Cottage Front Yard Ideas
A cottage-style front yard greets visitors with flowers: deep borders along a winding path, roses by the door and plenty of color from spring to fall. It's romantic, welcoming and especially suited to traditional and older homes.
Try this style on your yardCottage Front Yard: before & after
Same house, same angle. Only the landscaping changes.
Before
AfterWhat makes a cottage garden front yard
Plants
- Roses, including climbing roses on fences and arbors
- Lavender, catmint and salvia along paths
- Foxglove, hollyhocks and delphinium for height
- Hydrangeas and peonies for big blooms
Materials
- Gravel or brick paths
- Picket or low wooden fences
- Natural stone or brick edging
- Weathered wood and wrought iron accents
Features
- Deep, curved flower borders
- Arbors and trellises over paths
- A bench tucked among the flowers
- Plants packed closely with little bare soil
Design tips
Line the path with flowers
Replacing a straight concrete walk with gravel or brick and planting both sides with lavender, catmint and roses creates the classic cottage welcome.
Plant densely
Cottage gardens look best when plants knit together with little bare soil. Dense planting also crowds out weeds.
Add height near the house
Hollyhocks, foxgloves or a climbing rose on the porch give the border height and tie the planting to the house.
See a cottage garden design on your own yard
Upload a photo and we’ll preselect the front yard and cottage garden style for you. New accounts get 3 free designs.
1. Upload a photo of your yard
2. What are we designing?
3. Pick a style
Your redesigned yard will appear here.
Frequently asked questions
Is a cottage front yard high maintenance?
It needs more attention than a modern or gravel yard: deadheading, dividing and seasonal cutting back. Choosing tough perennials keeps the work reasonable.
Does cottage style work on a modern house?
It can soften a modern facade, but it's most at home on traditional houses. Generate both styles on your photo to compare.