Creative Driveway Designs

Posted by R&J Landscapes on 8th March 2021 -

Driveways that are fully tarmacked may be super easy to look after but they are largely dull and do nothing for your home’s charm, so it’s time to dismiss function over form and find the perfect balance between the two. Simply follow our guide to get your head around blending soft and hard landscapingtechniques to create your very own attractive driveway.

Front Garden Borders

Garden borders come in all shapes and sizes, such as trench edging, bricks, concrete pavers and raised stone. Whatever you choose, there’s something unique for every front garden that’ll complement your house and draw eyes to your home. Borders are visually striking, they prevent grass creep, work well on sloped driveways, they’re relatively easy to install and simple to maintain. With front garden borders, you can split hard and soft landscaping easily, enabling you to keep a functional area where you park a car whilst offering you an area for a lawn or some pretty summer/winter flowers.

Small Front Garden With No Grass

Haven’t the room for grass and not really that bothered? Break up your front garden from all the harsh hardscaping and embellish it with some small trees in front of your windows. Keep them uniform and in line, this will make the front of your house look smart and elegant. After planting, fill the area underneath with grey gravel, white pea gravel or bark – whichever you choose will depend on the colours and textures you like best. Small trees will also offer you privacy and pretty dappled light into your home.

Small Front Garden 

Fancy a vintage driveway? Gravel and slabs aren’t your only flooring choice, you could opt for a tiled pathway that’s patterned to the front door and plant lavender and tea roses either side of the path to create a cosy cottage-style driveway. This is a great choice for homes without a car parking space but would like to stand out from the crowd with a bright and timeless home front.

Large Front Gardens with New Fencing

For security, privacy and clear boundaries, think about installing new fencing panels. If you look at your existing fencing and notice that it is leaning, missing panels, discoloured, rotting or subject to rust, or simply no longer fits the rest of your home’s aesthetics, then it’s time for a new one. Once you have replaced your fencing with clear boundaries – it’ll be time to get started on your driveway’s surface.

For large front gardens, a resin driveway is an ideal option as it offers texture and stays neatly in place, even when driven on. The rest of your front garden could be home to a new lawn with a paved pathway down the middle that leads to the front door, or a modern, geometric pattern using stones and grey bricks to create your very own courtyard-style front.

Do's and Dont's With Creative Driveway Designs

Do: create a driveway that works from the inside too – you want to make sure that you have enough privacy but haven’t blocked the view entirely with trees.

Do: when hardscaping, choose a flooring that’ll last the test of time and can be parked on with ease such as permeable driveways and resin driveways.

Do: consider the route from your pathway to your front door – make it simple so visitors aren’t tempted to cut corners.

Don’ts: choose an all-gravel driveway, it can get stuck in tyre treads, shoes and be trodden into the house.

Don’ts: build paving, stones or soil levels up against the house – this can lead to damp.

With COVID-19 keeping us at home and with time on our hands, it’s time to get started on project driveway. Contact R&J Landscapes who are able to offer a comprehensive range of services, so you needn’t go anywhere else – we’ll be with you every step of the way and will bring your project through to completion.