We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again (in fact, we’ll say it as many times as necessary to get this through to our customers and friends) – your front Entry is essentially your first impression, and the last thing you want to do is let someone down with your first impression.

The front entry of your residence, corporate campus, or small business is going to say a lot about you.

Quick, take a look at yours.

Do you like what yours says about you?

If you’ve got a scraggly-looking, disheveled, and disorganized front entry right now, remember that this is how you’re being represented. Are you comfortable with that?

At Landcrafters, we have a combined experience timeline of about 150 years. That means that we’ve been reimagining, enhancing, and maintaining Florida homes for a very long time, and without question, we stand by the Idea that the front Entrance of any building makes a huge difference in how people see the landscape, business, or residence as a whole.

If you’re somebody that doesn’t care to break the bank but wants to offer up their greatest first impression ever, we’ve got news for you – there are plenty of front entrance modifications that are well within a moderate budget.

We’ve taken the time to lay out a few of our favorites, but it’s important to note that possibilities for your front entrance (on a budget) are pretty limitless. Check out a few of our ideas here!

The Epic Lead In

If you’re lucky enough to have a walkway leading up to your front entry, then make sure you’re working that to your advantage. In other words, give the people the epic lead in they’ve been dreaming of.

One of the easiest – and most effective – ways to make your front entrance pop is to give it a little walkway drama. Guide your guests up to your front entry from the parking lot, sidewalk, or street with a well-maintained and paved walkway.

Some of the easiest ways to enhance this guided walkway are to add budget-friendly shrubs, flowers, lanterns, ground cover on either side. To best provide your front entrance with the drama and clean-cut look you’re going for, we suggest making sure each side is symmetrical and as even as possible to provide an identical, but beautiful, walk up toward your front entrance.

For this, you’ll just need some paving equipment, a few deliberate choices for your hard surface, and inexpensive (but flattering) plants and hardware to cap off the perfect walkway.

All Pavement Front Entry? No Problem

If you’re lacking the lush, green landscape at your front entry and are left to deal with lots of asphalt, pavement, and parking lot, that doesn’t necessarily mean that your front entry is doomed! Consider adding in durable, Florida-friendly plants, shrubs, and trees that are drought-resistant and will thrive in the added heat that a parking lot or pavement will provide.

For example, check out things like Spanish Stoppers, Palm Trees, and Crape Myrtles. These plants and trees are Florida-friendly, offer jaw-dropping beauty, and do their best growing in paved areas where the sun reflects off the pavement.

Once these trees and plants – and others like them – are established, they’re able to withstand drought and stave off diseases and insects.

Quick Curb Appeal for the Front Entry

If you’re looking to add a quick splash of something special to your front entry, we suggest considering adding dashes of tried-and-true curb appeal improvements.

We’re not just talking about adding in pops of colorful, seasonal flowers (although, okay, that’s a great idea and we would never discourage you because we love, love, love a good fresh flower at a front entry). We’re talking about water features, lighting, and some extra special areas to get your front entry curb appeal going!

Consider tasteful, appropriately sized fountains, beautiful lights that dot your walkways, benches for seating, tiny meditation gardens, and more!

Check out a few of our specific ideas to get your inspiration flowing.

Freshen Up That Front Entry Sign

If you’re a commercial operation and you have a sign that counts as your front entry, you want to make sure that you’re making a great impression with your sign and the features surrounding them.

Consider making statements with shrubs, flowers with vibrant colors, pleasing lighting choices to surround your sign, and water features to draw attention and engage passersby. If you’re choosing to include flora and fauna around your signage, be cautious with seasonal choices and be ready to replace and refresh your colors and textures every season to keep your signage up-to-speed with the seasons.

Want more ideas for your signage? Check out our post here for more inspiration, ideas, tips and tricks!

Maintenance is the Key

No matter what quick, inexpensive fixes you choose to add to your front entry, the absolute best choice you can make to keep your front entrance beautiful is to make sure you’re keeping up with the maintenance.

A scraggly front entrance with overgrown shrubs, poorly pruned trees, and messy flower beds can make even the most updated front entrance (with new water features, lighting, signage, and more) look sloppy and unkempt.

One of the easiest ways to keep your front entrance beautiful is to work with a local landscaping company on a regularly scheduled maintenance routine. If you’re interested in working on this yourself, set up a schedule to ensure that you’re keeping your front entry clean and tidy.

Make sure you’re up to speed on pruning shrubs, planting and maintaining flower beds, and ask for help if you plan to install things that are a bit out of your comfort zone (meditation gardens, fountains, and lighting features).

No matter what you choose, make sure you’re keeping all of your features on track, clean, and in working order lest you risk an unkempt entryway!

Did you love some of our budget-friendly ideas for your front entrance? We thought you might. As we said though, there are plenty more ideas out there and we’d love to talk about them with you. If you’re interested in consulting with us about some budget-friendly front entrance ideas that we didn’t list here, give our office a call. If you want to get a quote from us for a project or even just chat about possibilities for your landscape, we encourage you to call us at (727)-201-3947. Want more landscaping ideas in general? We thought you might. Check out our blog here with weekly updates on advice, tips, tricks, and inspiration for your Florida landscape.