I am trying to come up with a good design for my front yard. Total we have two acres with our house right in the middle so both our front and back yard are quite large. We have several trees in the front that we are cutting down. We will be keeping the mimosa and live oak as well as the trees bordering the road in front of the house. There are also some azaleas underneath the trees at the road. One day we would like to dig a small fishing pond in the front yard but that isn't any time soon. My delima now is what to do near the house. Our house has 4' overhangs with an inset door and L shaped sidewalk leading from the driveway. I would like to bring more interest to the front door. I thought of two different ways that this might be possible but not sure if they work or not. Tell me your opinion. The first is the simplest with beds near/along the house and either a grouping or a single crepe myrtle near the sidewalk with a bench underneath sitting on a pea gravel bed. Being placed near the sidewalk's turn, the bench would face the driveway .Another option is more elaborate by building a pergola/arbor? along the roofline of the house. It would reach from the windows on either side of the front door. I could extend it out as far as needed into the front yard although the width, stretching from window to window across front door, is only 15' max. I would replace the sidewalk with brick or stone and add a swing or bench as well.I only want to do this if it will greatly improve the look of my house since its more time and money to do so. I will be painting the trim, door, and shutters soon as well. We are considering painting the brick but would prefer to keep it as is if we can make it visually appealing without painting them. Btw, we are in zone 8b, Louisiana, and although the house faces north, it gets full sun. The driveway is to the west of the house and the fence is to the east of the house if that helps. I am sorry that my pics are disjointed but I couldn't get the entire yard in one shot.
