The front yard is the part of your property you use least and look at most. You walk through it twice a day, the neighbors see it, and it's the first thing anyone notices when the house goes on the market. Here's what we put in front yards around Santa Cruz County, and what we tell people to skip.
Start with the walk to the front door
Before plants, before anything else, figure out how people get from the street or the driveway to your door. Most front yards we're called to have a narrow concrete strip running straight from the sidewalk, or no real path at all and a worn line through the grass where everyone cuts across.
A good front walk is wide enough for two people side by side. Four feet is a comfortable minimum, and five feels generous. It can curve a little, but don't make guests zigzag. People will cut the corner, and in a year you'll have a dirt track through your planting.
Material matters less than you'd think, as long as it suits the house. Flagstone set in decomposed granite looks right on older cottages in Seabright and Live Oak. Pavers in a simple running bond fit a 1970s ranch in Scotts Valley. We've done both on our walkways and pathways jobs, and either one lasts only as long as the base under it.
Lose some of the lawn, or all of it
A front lawn is a lot of mowing and water for a patch of grass nobody sits on. We take out more front lawns than we put in these days, and most people don't miss them.
You don't have to go all in. A few options we use:
- Shrink it. Keep a small rectangle of grass framed by a planted border.
- Replace it with planting. Low shrubs, grasses, and perennials in drifts with mulch between them. This is what we do most often.
- Mix in hardscape. A small patio or a bench area near the front door gives the space a use, and it means less to water and weed.
Depending on your water district, you may be able to get paid to take the lawn out. The catch is you usually need approval before you remove anything. We wrote up how the lawn replacement rebates work district by district.
Plant for your part of the county
What works in a Pleasure Point front yard won't always work in Ben Lomond. Fog, salt wind, shade from redwoods, and clay soil all change the list.
A few general rules we follow out front:
- Plant in groups. Three or five of the same plant together look intentional. One of everything, evenly spaced, looks like a nursery parking lot.
- Put the tall stuff against the house and the low stuff by the street. That keeps the windows clear and the view from the sidewalk open.
- Leave room for things to grow. Most of the overgrown front yards we redo were planted too close. A manzanita sold in a one gallon pot can be six feet wide in a few years.
- Go easy on the gravel. A little rock is fine. A whole yard of it gets hot, collects leaves, and looks like a parking strip.
Natives and Mediterranean plants carry most of our front yards: ceanothus, manzanita, salvias, deer grass, lavender, rockrose. Our drought tolerant landscape page goes into plant choices more, and the Santa Cruz County chapter of the California Native Plant Society is a good local source if you want to dig into natives yourself.
In the mountains, plan for deer. Plants they leave alone in Aptos get eaten to the ground in Felton.
Fences, hedges, and the height rules out front
A low fence or hedge along the street gives a front yard some shape and keeps dogs and kids in. Just know the front yard has stricter height limits than the back.
In unincorporated Santa Cruz County, the County's fences and walls guide puts the standard limit in a front yard at three feet. Near driveways and corners, where drivers need to see around you, the sight triangle is also held to three feet. Going taller out front takes extra approval. Inside city limits, the City of Santa Cruz has its own fence and hedge rules in its municipal code (Chapter 24.12), so check with the city if you live there. Hedges count too, so a privet hedge you let grow to six feet along the sidewalk can get you a letter.
Honestly, a three foot picket or open rail fence looks better out front than a tall solid one anyway.
Light the way to the door
Front yard lighting is mostly about getting people to the door safely. A few low voltage path lights along the walk, one light on the steps, and maybe one uplight on a good tree is usually plenty.
We cover fixtures, transformers, and what survives our salt air in our landscape lighting post.
Keep it easy to maintain
The best front yard is one you can keep up with. A few things that cut the work down:
- Drip irrigation on a smart controller, not spray heads watering the sidewalk
- Three inches of mulch on every bare spot, topped up once a year
- Clean edges between beds and the walk, so weeds and grass don't creep across
- Plants sized for the space, so nobody has to hedge them back every month
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the lowest maintenance front yard for Santa Cruz?
Drought tolerant planting on drip, with mulch and a solid walkway, is about as low maintenance as a living yard gets here. Once the plants are established, most of the work is a cleanup a couple of times a year.
Do I need a permit for front yard landscaping?
Planting and most walkways don't need a permit. Fences or walls over the front yard height limit, retaining walls over certain heights, and some drainage work can, so check with the county or your city before you build.
When is the best time to redo a front yard in Santa Cruz?
Fall is the best time to plant here, because winter rain does a lot of the watering while the roots settle in. Hardscape like walkways can go in most of the year, but we try to finish it before the heavy rains.
Should I get rid of my front lawn?
If nobody uses it, probably. Most people who take theirs out end up with a yard that looks better, uses much less water, and takes less of their weekend.
Get a Free Estimate
We've been working on front yards across Santa Cruz County for over 40 years, from beach cottages in Capitola to hillside homes in Scotts Valley. If yours needs a fresh start, call us at 831.254.3447 or reach out through our contact page for a free estimate.