Sharing my 3 easy & beautiful tips & gardening ideas for landscaping under a front window or a picture window that are low maintenance. With easy to plant shrubs that look fabulous with step by step instructions and pictures on a budget!
Table of Contents
Landscaping Under a Front Window or a Picture Window
*this post contains affiliate links for more information check out my disclosure page HERE*
My #1 Tip for Landscaping Under a Front Window – Showcase the Windows of Your Home
When landscaping under a front window, large picture window or really ANY window on your home at all, it is important to not completely block the window with your landscaping or shrubs.
You want to be able to not only see then landscaping outside your window… but for curb appeal reasons, you want to see the frame of your window as well!
By either trimming up the landscaping that’s already there or replacing it entirely, you will immediately improve your curb appeal.
My #2 Tip for Landscaping Under a Front Window – Flowering Shrubs
My #2 tip for landscaping under a front window is to plant flowering shrubs under it.
My FAVORITE flowering shrubs summer through fall are hydrangeas. (see my tips for getting the most hydrangea blooms HERE)
If you plant a flowering shrub under a front window, you will not only will you appreciate the pretty flowers when standing outside your home but inside as well!
My #3 Tip for Landscaping Under a Front Window – Evergreens
My #3 tip for landscaping under a front window is to add a mix of evergreens along with those flowering shrubs.
That way your landscaping looks beautiful ALL year round and doesn’t look completely dead in the wintertime.
I added sky pencil holly shrubs to the outside of my two front windows along with a gorgeous flowering camellia in between.
Step By Step Instructions for How to Landscape Under a Window
Step ONE – Start from Scratch or Trim All the Landscaping Back to Highlight Your Front Window
When we bought our fixer upper farmhouse nine years ago, this giant picture window was completely hidden from view die to a beautiful but VERY overgrown white rhododendron.
It was a beautiful evergreen flowering shrub but made it completely impossible to see out of our family room window or the front window you see from the road.
Landscaping Under a Front Window BEFORE
The picture below is after I trimmed some of the rhododendron so we could see out of the window!
A few years ago, I cut down the rhododendron and added a few hydrangeas instead.
Sadly when we had our siding replaced (see our white farmhouse HERE), the guys were not careful with our landscaping and I lost much of the landscaping that was here including 2 rose bushes and a few hydrangeas.
I dug out what was dead & had a fairly blank slate to start landscaping under a front window.
Step TWO – Anchor the Landscaping and Frame out the Window
For our giant picture window, I framed out the window with 2 large hydrangeas on the ends of the window with a boxwood shrub just under this front garden window.
The boxwood is suppose to max out around 4 feet tall so it should never block the landscaping under a front window.
There are also two pyramidal evergreens on either side of the hydrangeas as well.
Step THREE – Add Interest with a Fountain when Landscaping under a Front Window
Because the garden bed under our picture window is so deep, it was a bit of a challenge to keep all of the landscaping under four feet and still be able to enjoy all of the different colors, textures and varieties of flowers and shrubs.
To help solve this problem, I added a second pond to the landscaping under a front window to add interest to the garden and our DIY flagstone walkway (see it HERE).
The solar fountain helps buffer the noise from our busy road and looks so pretty when it the water is running.
To see how to make an inexpensive easy small pond with a fountain in your garden, see the DIY HERE.
If you don’t want to go to the trouble of digging a hole for a small pond, an above ground fountain, bird bath or garden statue would look great as well.
The small pond and fountain look beautiful even from the inside of our farmhouse looking out to the landscaping under a front window!
Step FOUR – Add Flowers for Color and Interest
I still need to add a few annuals this summer but in the spring, I added small perennial geraniums along with liriope to add color and interest to the sides and front of the fountain.
In the fall, I plan to add a few more tulip and daffodil bulbs as well.
If you are stumped for ideas landscaping under a front window I hope this gives you some helpful ideas for your home!
by Tara Lehman
More DIY Gardening Ideas You Might Enjoy!
