Fall is the ideal time for landscaping as the cooler weather allows new plants to take root easily. Some simple landscaping ideas for fall include fixing existing lawn and planting beds, establishing new colorful perennials and ornamental grasses that bloom in fall, and adding lighting and structures to enhance the landscape. Evergreens provide an important backdrop and year-round privacy, while a welcoming front entrance with seasonal decorations completes the curb appeal.

1. Toemar Garden
Supplies and
Firewood

2. 5 Simple Fall Landscaping
Ideas For The Front Yard

3. Curb appeal takes on a whole new meaning
in autumn with some landscaping ideas
The colours of fall make it a perfect time of year to
really enhance the front of your home with
landscaping.
Leverage the cooler weather, as well as the
beautiful plants and flowers that bloom at this
time of year, to create a visual impression.

4. Planning your landscaping so that you have colour
and texture all year around is ideal and easy to do.
Incorporating perennials, shrubbery and grasses that
bloom at different times of year assures you a
beautiful front yard (well, with the exception of the
blanket of snow from January through March!)
If you have deciduous trees on your property, Mother
Nature will help you along in terms of brilliant
colours, but there’s so much you can add to improve
upon her good work!

5. Fix The Basics
If your lawn has patches or your planting beds need
weeding, turning and mulching, now is the time. The
cooler weather is an ideal time to start thinking about
overseeding your lawn, to fix patches. Why?
Because the cooler temperatures mean less
evaporation of the soil moisture.

6. Don’t forget to do plenty of raking to pull up the dead
grasses and remove your leaves. Your lawn can
breathe better without the extra layer, though some
fallen leaf coverage can be helpful to protect plant
beds from an early frost.
Grass seeds will have the opportunity to germinate
and build a solid root structure before the stems take
over, in the spring. Use a high quality overseeding
soil with your new seeds and be sure to give it all
plenty of water.

7. It’s also a good time to take a look at your
hardscaping and make sure it’s all in good
condition for the upcoming winter. Your walkways
and retaining walls should be repaired, as ice
forming in cracks can expand and create further
damage.
While water features are lovely in spring and
summer, it’s a good time to drain yours and prepare
it for winter by covering up any pool basins, so they
don’t get clogged with falling leaves and other
autumn detritus.

8. Establish Some New Color And
Texture
Your summer blooms are fading, so it’s time to
add some shades of fall. In fact, autumn is an
ideal time to plant perennials because, just as
with the grass seed above, the warm soil and
mild evaporation make ideal conditions for roots
to form and take hold.

9. What flowers and plants will bloom through the fall,
improving the look of your landscape?
Hostas – from vibrant blue to dark red, there are
many shades to pluck up your garden.
Daylilies – pinks and purples to gold and yellow,
you’ve many shades of the rainbow in these!
Daisies – who doesn’t love daisies? To quote that
old goody of a movie “You’ve Got Mail”: “They’re such
happy flowers.” True.

10. Peonies – usually more subtle in creams, pinks and
lavenders, these flowers add a special subtlety to any
landscape design.
Chrysanthemums – that quintessential fall flower
has lovely blooms to brighten your front garden.

11. As for texture, there’s nothing more elegant than some
beautiful ornamental grasses, waving in the autumn
breeze. They can add some flourish when other plants
are beginning to be cut back for the season and are
hardy enough to withstand our winters.
Trees and shrubs often do very well if planted in the fall,
for the same reasons as the grass seed and plants, as
noted above, so if you don’t yet have any trees with
leaves that change (deciduous) in the fall, now is a
great time to add some to your landscape plan. Just be
sure to buy a rake at the same time!

12. Fall is also a good time to consider adding a structure
to your hardscape, whether that is an arbor or a stone
retaining wall, slate stepping stones or boulders.
Whatever look you’re trying to achieve in your garden,
adding structure to its already good bones will improve
the look immeasurably!

13. Let There Be Light
Another way to enhance the landscape is to add some
strategic lighting. Thanks to solar powered units, you
can place lighting along your walk way or throughout
your gardens to highlight the hard work you’ve put into
them!
Porch lighting can be so much fun if you indulge in a
wrought iron sconce or perhaps a hanging lantern?
Whatever you choose, lighting the front of your home
really improves the welcoming look of it.

14. Evergreens Are Important Too
With all this talk about adding colour, don’t forget that
standing evergreens add symmetry and consistency to
a garden, to say nothing of year round privacy and a
beautiful backdrop for your blooming autumnal plant
beds. That contrast of a dark green background with
flaming florals and grasses set in front? Beautiful!

15. Improve Your Front Entrance
In addition to the landscaping, you can add a touch of
fall to your front entrance by incorporating a seasonal
wreath or planters on either side of the door, filled with
fall foliage, grasses, flowers and more.
The key with entrance decor is to be subtle, with a few
touches rather than overflowing buckets of plants and
greenery. This is definitely one of those time when less
is more.

16. There’s one exception to that rule however: if you’re
big on the fall holidays like Halloween, you can add a
lot of color and a whole lot of fun with pumpkins and
hay bales, scarecrows and fake spiders. Just be sure
to take it all down before Santa comes by on his
sleigh!
Ultimately, if you have a front porch, keep the furniture
out as long as you can: it’s a lovely way to spend a
cool evening, with a blanket and some hot chocolate,
enjoying the landscape you’ve created!