Front Yard Landscaping in McLean, VA

Front Yard Landscaping for McLean Homes

A McLean front yard has a lot of work to do. On estate streets off Georgetown Pike in the Langley area, a large brick Colonial needs plantings scaled to its facade, an entry that reads well from the street and beds that hold up under tall oaks. In Kent Gardens and Chesterbrook, a 1950s or 1960s brick home often sits behind overgrown yews and a lawn that fades in shade. Local pros design and plant fronts that fit the house, the lot and the light.

Most projects start by clearing what has outgrown its spot: foundation shrubs covering windows, English ivy climbing trunks and Japanese stiltgrass filling the beds. Installers then amend the reddish clay subsoil with compost, set evergreen structure such as American holly, inkberry or boxwood, and layer in flowering shrubs like oakleaf hydrangea and sweetbay magnolia. Natural stone edging, a bluestone landing at the front door and a few well placed uplights often complete the look.

On teardown lots in Salona Village and McLean Hamlet, the new house usually goes up on compacted fill with builder sod and a handful of small shrubs, so those fronts need real soil prep before planting. Deer browse is constant across McLean, which is why plant lists favor hellebores, catmint, ornamental grasses and daffodils over hostas and tulips.