Taunton's Front Yard Idea Book: How to Create a Welcoming Entry and Expand Your

This book is help on our design of our new front yarn garden. NO LAWNS NOW! I will hope to post again with a video of how it comes out but it will be a while until we finish. This book is very helpful. So is the other book Front Yard Gardens, Growing More Then Grass by Primeau.

I can't begin to say how much I adore this book!! I'm telling you now, if you read this book from cover to cover & allow yourself to digest each & every picture, you'll never look at a front yard the same again. Literally, American is stuck in a rut. I look up & down my street, & all I see are blank, bland, boring lawns!! Wretch! This book has made me realize something that took me directly out of that silly, traditional mindset: I PAY AS MUCH FOR MY FRONT YARD AS I DO MY BACKYARD! This book has motivated me to "reclaim" my front yard for my own use, & I can't wait to have it all in & done! It won't be my neighbor's front yard anymore! It won't look like public domain anymore!!!

A good-looking front yard isn't just a wise investment in your home, it's a gift to your neighborhood. Webber's book is packed with ideas for real families and real houses. For example, the book's chapter "Driveways and Parking" offers ideas on expanding a narrow driveway or parking spot, even parking bays and pull-offs!Webber uses a logical, easy to follow pattern. First she gets us thinking about our goals for an area, then she provides reliable information, combined with Taunton's characteristically good photography. All in all, the book's a good investment for any homeowner with a front yard.

My book is so filled with post-its marking which ideas I'll be emulating. It may take awhile, but it'll be worth it if my front yard ends up anywhere near as beautiful as some of these pictures. I'm looking forward to enjoying my front yard in a private garden setting, just like I enjoy my back yard. It's mine to enjoy, not to work like a dog on just for the neighbors benefit! Editing to add - it is now three years after I originally posted this review. I used many of the ideas learned from this book, and it sparked many of my own! My front yard looks like a park, I love to look out my windows and enjoy. Even a walk to the mailbox has become a serene experience because of the lush gardens and plantings. People drive through our neighborhood, stop in front of our house and I see them looking and pointing at different gardens, etc. We'll be selling our house to retire in a couple of years, and I feel confident that our place has tremendous "curb appeal" because of what I learned and implemented from this book.

This is a really good first book on front yard gardens and has some excellent pictures. If you're thinking of adding a little life and color to your front yard, striving for some curb appeal or just plain tired of mowing the lawn, pick this up. Easy to read and written in a nice relaxed style, it's a good starter.