Most of us have simple driveways with no driveway garden or curb appeal. A driveway garden creates a nice focal point on your property and is part of the overall landscaping.
Your driveway is most likely the first part of your property that most people see. Why not add a driveway garden for curb appeal? Landscaping driveways is fairly simple and can be a lot of fun. Depending on how long or short your driveway is will help determine what kind of driveway garden you need. There are many driveway garden ideas and a good way to think about what you would like for a driveway garden is to drive around your neighborhood and see what the neighbors have for curb appeal.
One of the first things you’ll need to decide is whether you want a hardscape or softscape driveway garden.
Hardscape vs. Softscape Driveway Garden
Both are popular and very attractive ways to create a driveway garden. Hardscape means adding a fence, brick or stone wall, or some other hard surface to the area. In front of these hard surfaces, you can then add plants, shrubs or a tree to soften the look. A softscape has no hard surfaces; just plants, shrubs, trees, and/or flowers. Both offer great curb appeal.
One way to determine whether or not you’ll need to hardscape or softscape your driveway is to look at the length of your driveway. A very long driveway that’s over 200 ft. would be high maintenance if it’s all flowers. On the other hand, a short driveway wouldn’t be attractive lined with 50 ft. trees.
I’m going to break down these driveway garden ideas by the length of your driveway. I’ll also give you some visuals through the photos I’ve chosen with this article. Hopefully, with these photos and ideas you’ll be able to visualize what you would like as a driveway garden.
Long Driveways – Over 60 ft.
The best way to landscape a long driveway is by using trees. Trees will create an inviting entrance to your property that’s very pleasing to the eye. Take a look at the first photo with this article. Don’t you just want to drive under this beautiful canopy of trees to see where it goes? Now, visualize a long row of hedges or a long flower garden. Do you think that would work? Of course, it’s up to you but a long flower garden or row of hedges will be high maintenance and not look as well as a driveway lined with trees.
Medium Driveways – 30 ft. – 60 ft.
Many people have medium-length driveways and you can be very creative with this length for a driveway garden. An ornamental tree, a short fence or rock wall, and plenty of flowers will add curb appeal. Of course, the driveway garden does not need to be the full length of the driveway. By creating a garden in the first 30 ft or so you’ll be adding nice curb appeal.
The second photo shows a medium-sized driveway that’s been landscaped with a small brick post and then a row of hedges. Since the house and garage is made of brick, that adds a hardscape look to the driveway so you don’t need to put a big hard surface structure in the driveway for curb appeal. The driveway garden is very attractive and adds quite a bit to the landscaping.
Short Driveways – Up to 30 ft.
Short driveways are very common in residential developments. These small driveways don’t need trees or hardscaping. In most cases, shrubs aren’t advisable either. Usually, a small flower garden will be what’s needed here for a very simple but nice curb appeal. Small and medium-sized plants will fit this area nicely.
The third photo in this article is a small driveway. You can see that it has been lined nicely with some shrubs and flowers. A tree would not be attractive here, nor would any hardscaping. With smaller driveways, the simpler the better.
Curb appeal gardening always improves the landscaping and is a great way to make a first impression. When creating your driveway garden, choose plants with low maintenance for your area. A visit to your local garden nursery will aid in plant choices for your driveway garden.
Other gardening articles:
Ideas for a Garage Garden
Advantages of a Preplanned Garden
Preplanned Gardens for 2011
