Tips for Creating a Gorgeous Entryway Garden

Change the look of the garden throughout the year. Give your entry garden seasonal updates with bulbs in spring, annuals in summer, mums in fall and evergreens for winter. Containers can be moved around to alter the look of the garden.

At the home of Rob Saba and Mark Hogan in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., mums (Chrysanthemum), ornamental kale (Brassica oleracea) and grasses (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum') signal fall in window boxes, hanging baskets, and among fall-blooming perennials and established foundation plants. Decorative accents like cornstalks, dried flower wreaths and country-style ornaments complete the inviting harvest display.

Create focal points between the street and the house. Set at an angle, a gravel path with inlaid crushed glass encourages visitors to slow down and enjoy the individual elements in this front-yard garden. A fence with translucent panels keeps the front yard private yet accessible.

The designer, Laura Crockett of Hillsboro, Ore., is known for her penchant for the unusual. She views her garden as an artist's palette, using plants with various colors, texture and shapes, combined with hardscaping, to create inviting vignettes.

Laura substituted a traditional lawn with an eclectic mix of low-growing ornamental grasses, shrubs, succulents and perennial groundcovers. Though flowers are used judiciously, the nearly all-foliage landscape is visually compelling. Containers, metal and stonework complete this dynamic vista.

Match the hardscaping and plants to the architectural style of the home. The footprint of this front-yard garden may be small, but the design, by homeowner Mona Neubert, reflects the high Victorian style of this home in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Formal hedges and iron statuary complement Victorian or Colonial architecture.

The intricately painted porch is the backdrop to a sidewalk border, which is neatly edged with brick and iron fencing, and planted with topiary boxwood and conifers. Victorian urns, pedestals and a small fountain complete the inviting landscape.

Choose plants that will thrive in the site's soil, light and climate conditions. Jim and Meg Dalton's home in Middle Grove, N.Y., is located in a cold (USDA Zone 4) climate. The property is deeply shaded and the home's entrance faces north, so the plants have to be hardy and shade-tolerant. The Daltons chose a pleasing mix of conifers, deciduous trees and shrubs, and sturdy woodland perennials, including weeping white spruce (Picea glauca 'Pendula'), winterberry (Ilex verticillata 'Red Sprite'), yellow twig dogwood (Cornus sericea 'Flaviramea') and numerous varieties of hostas. The subtle shades of green foliage complement the Colonial-style home's colors of brick red and forest green.

Another tip: Use plants that suit your lifestyle, including low-maintenance and drought-tolerant plants.