The Front Garden: New Approaches to Landscape Design

The front yard is the stepchild of landscape design, ignored in the current enthusiasm for gardening. Typically, with its high-maintenance lawn and overgrown foundation planting, the front yard doesn't enhance the house or provide useful living space for the homeowner. Yet as new properties become smaller and old ones grow shadier, the front garden may be the best place to grow vegetables or flowers, to sit outside in comfort and privacy, or even to swim or play tennis.

Mary Riley Smith, a la…