A front yard which suits the type of your ranch house complements your house and enhances its attractiveness. Ranch homes are simple in their design, providing the full design of the house on a single floor. This manner of house lends itself to designs that augment the simplicity of the house’s architectural style without seeming too spartan. When designing, focus not merely on plantings, but also on the way guests move out of the street to the front door, providing hardscaping that supports the color palette and design aesthetic of their home and garden.

Plan a pathway. Curving paths soften the sometimes hard lines of a ranch-style home. Straight lines support a modernistic garden aesthetic.

Plant woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosus) in the edge of the walkway as it requires very little water and tolerates being crushed underfoot. It is appropriate to U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 9. Plant in sun with well-drained soil for the best results.

Plant New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax) to add visual interest to your backyard. Plant in the edge of a border or lawn to include crimson-, chocolate- and cream- striped, spiked leaves to your palette. This plant is appropriate to USDA zones 9 through 11 when planted in fertile, moist soil.

Plant lawn composed of drought-tolerant grasses, such as zoysia grass (Zoysia japonica “Meyer”) to offer ample green space in the front of the ranch home. This bud tolerates drought also is non-flowering. It is appropriate to USDA zones 5 through 10.

Place containers on the steps leading to your front door to both denote the entrance for guests and expand the backyard layout. Use plants which tolerate a mixture of shade and sun, such as Marjorie Channon Kohuhu (Pittosporum tenuifolium “Marjorie Channon”). This tree thrives in containers in USDA zones 8 through 11, forming a variegated compact tree around 12 inches tall.

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