Garden Designers Roundtable: Creating an Entry Sequence

Have you ever heard the saying “You never get a second chance to make a first impression”? Not only does this wise advice apply to job interviews or the first day of school, but it applies to your home as well. A front yard is more than just a green area separating your house from the sidewalk; it’s a multifunctional space that marks the transition from the outdoors to the indoors, a place to great visitors and to say your good-byes and an opportunity to complement your home. This week, the Garden Designers Roundtable is talking about first impressions, and my contribution is a mini lesson on curb appeal.

Creating an entry sequence

A natural transition occurs when visitors come to your home. Designers use the term “entry sequence” to refer to the path from public spaces (the street or sidewalk) to the semiprivate or private space closer to your home’s front door. A well-planned entry sequence connects a house to the landscape and creates a cohesive space. Here are some tips to creating an effective entry sequence:

It’s all about the door

No matter how many plants, arbors and outdoor tchokes you add to your front yard, the door is still the de facto focal point. After all, you want your friends, delivery folk and Jehovah’s Witnesses to easily find their way to the doorbell right? (Okay, maybe not that last group). When I meet with a new client and have trouble identifying the entrance, I know I will earn my fee in the first five minutes, simply by sharing easy ways to make the door more visible.

Simple steps include painting the door in a contrasting color or flanking the entrance with pots or small trees. Or take it a step further and add an arbor or front porch.

Before: It's already confusing that the door is located on the side of this duplex. The fact that you can't easily tell the front door from the garage door just makes it worse.

 

After: A simple fix- paint the door red.

 

Before: A contrasting door isn't enough to get the job done here.

After: a porch and plants that won't obscure the view to the door create a much more welcoming sequence.

At a minimum, avoid blocking the view to the door. To take it to the next level, make the journey from the street to the house easy to navigate, comfortable and in the appropriate scale and style for the home. Which leads to my next tip...

 

No wait, it’s all about the path

If this blog post had a subtitle, it would probably be: Landscape Designers Are Obsessed with Pathways. And I’m no exception. Design a pathway that makes it easy to find the door, and you’re on your way to a home with curb appeal that will make the neighbors gnash their teeth in envy.

The first step is to ensure the path is wide enough. A path that is broad enough for two people to walk abreast is the gold standard here. That means a minimum of 4 ft. but for most houses, 5 to 6 ft. will be a better width. Let the scale of the house and the garden be the determining factor.

Having a primary path that is wide enough is also important to distinguish it from any secondary pathways, such as those that lead to a side entrance or even meander through the garden if you’ve chosen a no-lawn landscape design.

The primary path is 5 1/2 feet wide - a good scale for this traditional ranch. Photo by Tai Williams.

Same garden, where the secondary path is modest and scale and uses informal materials. No chance of getting lost on your way to the door. Photo by Tai Williams

What about shape? More formal designs favor straight lines, but often times a curve is an easy and effective way to break up the boxy shape of a typical front yard. But keep it simple and don’t exaggerate the curve – remember, your goal is to take your guests on a pleasant journey to the front door, not help them reach their goal of 10,000 steps a day.

 

A simple curve DO. As a design bonus, note the way the change in pattern helps distinguish the pathway from the driveway - a good strategy when a separate point of origin is impractical.

And finally, the most misunderstood part of the entry sequence is the beginning. We all know it ends at the front door, but avoid the temptation to start the path in the driveway. (Really, when did front yards become an homage to three care garages and oversized driveways - don’t add to the madness! But that’s a rant for another day.) If you regularly access the front door via a carport, then by all means provide a secondary, less prominent path, but a general rule of thumb is to begin the path at the street or sidewalk, so it is clearly visible and easy to access.

If any of this sounds familiar, it’s because some of these ideas are part of the first chapter of Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces (which I’m sure you’ve all read, right?). For some different perspectives, check out what other designers from the Roundtable have to say on the topic.

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA

Shirley Bovshow: Eden Makers Blog : Los Angeles, CA

Comments

[Gordon Rigg]

Loved the choice of colours in picture 6 (with the curved path). Always nice to see a variety of plants that contrast well with each other.

Thank you, Gordon!

[Robert Webber]

Hi Susan!
Just such sound advice about how clear things should be for callers and yes too true that we designers all obsess about travel through. Coz when that is right you don't have to think and can enjoy the rest of the garden. Right?
Thanks and Best
R

Yup, it's all about transitions and movement, whether it's with the feet or merely the eyes. Thanks for taking time to comment!

[rebecca sweet]

Wow - love those before and after photos of the front door trying to camouflage itself! You definitely earned your fee with that one! Great post with great tips and thank you for not using my little pathway in my back garden as a "do not do this" photo!! ;)

I love your pathway! And a perfect size for the scale of your garden.

[Jocelyn/the art garden]

Excellent presentation, Susan: So much of garden design is NOT about the plants! (And I couldn't agree more about the mega driveway crisis.)Thanks for the great tips!

We do seem to have become a nation of car worshipers, not to mention our need for gigantic garages to hold all of our stuff. Clients are often truly confused when I suggest adding a path that doesn't go through the driveway.

[Christina Salwitz]

Susan,
I love how your posts are mini-masters class in design. Thanks Professor, I had a good time learning about the yays and nays of coming home!

Thanks, Christina!

[Pam/Digging]

I'm still chuckling over your comment, "remember, your goal is to take your guests on a pleasant journey to the front door, not help them reach their goal of 10,000 steps a day." Once again, you say it clearly and with humor. Nicely done, Susan.

I was going to show some pictures of pathways in my neighborhood where it looks like the designer was paid by the curve, but decided to keep it upbeat. Glad I made you laugh! :-)

[Debbie/GardenofPossibilities]

Susan, I'm with Pam...I chuckled over that comment. Probably because I've traveled a few of those looong pathways when visiting clients. Love the photo of the no-lawn front garden, it's so much more interesting than what we typically see.

Thanks, Debbie!

[Janis/begarden]

Agree with Christina, thanks Susan!

In So Cal, a typical mid-50s suburban garage-forward layout has sweeping driveway, crossed to get to the door. Just this morning, thinking of a way to make that crossing more pleasant... must give it a try. (Total remodel to change garage access is unfortunately not in the cards). Your post is encouraging.

What an improvement in duplex entry simply to paint out the gas service meter, too! Nice.

Amazing how some of the smallest fixes can make the biggest difference. Thanks for stopping by, Janis!

[Shirley Bovshow "EdenMaker"]

Fantastic design lesson in easy to understand terms for the layperson! I can appreciate that.

Shirley

If there's a simple solution, why look for a complicated one, right?

[Susan aka Miss R]

Was hoping someone would talk about the arrival experience. I always want my clients to exhale 'home' when they enter their front yards and their guests to slow down, enjoy and relax. The arrival sequence can create that for sure.

[plantingoaks]

Does your comment about not starting in the driveway also apply to rural properties? Practically nobody is close enough to walk to our house, and parking in the 55mph road is practically suicidal, not to mention a traffic hazard. I can't think of anywhere other than the driveway that a path could start.

No, there are always exceptions, and yours is a good example. When the road is busy and no one can park or walk on it, it's much more logical to have the path start at a staging area. But even then, you can imply the start of the path by changing the direction of the pathway paving. This preserves the integrity of the path while acknowledging that a traditional approach is not practical.

[Susie]

I couldn't understand why you could not find the front door from the garage? There was a mat in front of it and the door was "a front door"

Why would you want a 5'wide path to your door? Why do you have to have it wide enough for two people? People don't usually approach in that manner.

Susie, when designing a garden, the goal is to create a cohesive look, and in a front yard part of that is making the experience, both visual and actual, as pleasant as possible. There are no hard-and-fast rules as each home and gardener is different, but this post points out some basic guidelines that apply to many situations.