Better Homes And Gardens Flamingo 4 Inch Planter

Give the front of your house a boost with these planter ideas. With photos from home gardens, there are lots of inexpensive ways to add colorful container plants to planters and window boxes.

For a creative, recycled project also see How to Make a Birdcage Planter.

Front porch with black urn of vivid pink flowers.

Planter Ideas for the Front of Your House

These planter ideas for the front of the house come from home gardens I have visited. I like taking inspiration from simple, low-budget gardens so they are affordable and realistic and won't break the bank.

While it's not a favorite topic, when it comes to creating welcoming front yard and porch, one of the biggest obstacles can be theft.

We can put all sorts of creative decor, plants, garden art, and furnishings out, but, if thieves are going to remove them, it's not worth it.

So, keep this in mind when making choices. It's not always possible to stop it but super heavy items and affixing things to walls can slow down the bad guys.

That said, if you cannot stand the thought of losing it, don't put it out front! Been there, done that.

On a brighter note, it's fun to make the front garden welcoming. And neighbors tend to like it because it adds to the overall curb appeal.

Have a look at these ideas and see what you can to for your front yard.

1 Welcoming Front Walkway with Garden

I started with this one because it's simple and really pretty. I love the curved pathway, the surrounding garden beds and the pots on the porch.

2 Porch with Flower Urn

If given a choice, I would always choose one giant spectacular flower pot or urn rather than a bunch of small ones. Go big or go home! The porch at this house is simple but grand. The black of the chair and urn look really good with the white and wood. And the red flowers steal the show.

Victorian front porch with pillars, wicker chair, and black urn filled with flowers.

Here's a close-up of the flower planter. It follows the fill-spill-thrill formula, with a tall spiky plant, flowing baby's breath, bold red impatiens, and spilling lobelia, vines, and more.

Black metal urn on front porch filled with colorful flowers and foliage.

Plant Ideas

Red impatiens with dark foliage (Infinity Dark Pink
New Guinea Impatiens by Proven Winners is a good example)
Superbells Yellow petunias
A variegated ivy
Blue lobelia
Baby's Breath (Gypsophila) for tiny white flowers

17-inch Black Molded Plastic Garden Urn | Amazon

3 Modern Urns

The choice of sleek, modern black urns filled with deep velvet red petunias, tall grasses, and flowing vines goes very nicely with the new house.

The hostas and hydrangeas fill the space beside the walkway with various green textures.

Front garden leading to door with tall planters, hydrangea and hostas.

Here's a close-up of one of the planters.

Black urn filled with red flowers and tall grasses.

23-Inch Modern Garden Planter | Amazon

4 Country Porch with Hanging Baskets

Repetition is powerful in a garden. Here the homeowners have lined the entire front porch with matching baskets of purple and white petunias. Sticking to one color scheme is an easy way to make a grand statement.

Front porch with hanging baskets of purple and white petunias.

5 Planters on Porch Steps

Again, keeping with a select color palette and selection of plants makes this simple arrangement stand out much than it would with a bunch of random plants.

Front steps to house lined with planters.

6 Hayrack Wall Planter with Coco Liner and Geraniums

You can't really argue with the power of red geraniums (Pelargoniums). Surrounded by neutral colors, they make a lovely, eye-popping display.

Hayrack planter hanging on porch rails at front of house.

Related: How to Grow Geraniums From Cuttings

30-Inch Hayrack Planter | Amazon

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7 Cone Planter with Blast of Color

Combining contrasting colors in one bold hanging basket is another way to declare summer officially under way. I love how it looks in relation to the simple covered porch on this old Victorian home.

Cone-shaped hanging wicker basket with brightly-colored flowers on front porch.

14-Inch Natural Cone Shaped Hanging Basket | Amazon

8 Front Fence Garden

This row of flowering perennials is very pretty both in the yard and from the sidewalk. The figures sitting on the fence, painted to match, add whimsy.

Colorful flowering perennials along fence between front yard and sidewalk.

9 Grand Entry Way

It's not a front porch but this grand entry way is the equivalent at this house. The giant urns with red flowers and hostas, along with the big wooden archway and metal fixtures are most welcoming.

Large pots of flowers and hostas at entry to house.

Related: 49 Hostas for Sunny Locations

10 Hanging Baskets of Color

If theft is an issue, hanging baskets may be the answer. There are lots of ways to attach the hangers or chains to slow down nimble hands trying to remove them. The solid flower colors in these baskets look really pretty.

Colorful hanging baskets of begonias on front porch.

11 Two Levels of Flowermania

This is the front of business residence in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. I believe they successfully follow my motto: you can never have enough flowers.

Upper and lower front porches with flowering annuals in baskets.

12 Matching Wall Hangers and Urns

This one is a sidewalk cafe. Whenever something catches my eye and looks good, I snap a picture. Here, the repetition of the same petunias throughout the baskets makes a pretty, unified display defining the space.

Sidewalk cafe with beautiful containers of flowering annuals.

13 Window Box with Pink Petunias

I didn't realize so many of these planters have petunias until I started writing this. But, they are a good reliable planter annual with blooms lasting from spring to fall.

I love a big window box that can be enjoyed both from the outside and inside of the house.

Windowbox filled with cascading pink and white flowers.

14 Wood Window Boxes

Geranium power strikes again. Here, red and pink Pelargoniums stand out next to the buttery shed color. The same thing works at the front of the house: if you want something eye catching, choose flower colors that stand out from the rest of your paint and decor.

Window box with pink and red geraniums on front of shed.

15 Deck with Lots of Containers

More can be more! This back deck is lined with a window box, hanging baskets on shepherd hooks, and lots of colorful containers. Having everything grouped together not only looks great but makes it easier to water.

Backyard patio with a collection of flower pots filled with colorful annuals.

16 Beautiful Blue Hydrangea

Sometimes the choice is, do I want the plants to be focal point, or the containers? Or both? Here, the blue hydrangea is flower perfection. The plain planter is a good choice to let the plant have all the glory.

Blue flowering hydrangea in container on patio.

Related: How to Change Hydrangea Colors

17 Hanging Basket at Garage

In this sea of white by the garage, you cannot help but fall in love with this colorful planter. I try to use this same approach in my garden, placing each plant or group of plants where they can best be seen and enjoyed, letting colors play off each other.

Hanging basket on side of garage featuring puriple and pink flowers and green foliage.

18 Hanging Baskets with Orange Theme

In recent years there are many more options for those of us who love unusual plant colors. Here the mini orange petunias are combined with red foliage and it's just lovely.

Hanging cone-shaped baskets filled with orange flowers on front porch of house.

19 Shed Window Box with Big Simple Blooms

This shed is in a garden with mostly green plants. And that's why those yellow flowers look so right: there is not competition. As someone who grows many (some would say too many) different colored flowers, I appreciate this artful restraint.

White garden shed with window box showing yellow flowers and trailing ivy vine.

20 Welcome Planter on Gate

Adding plants to unexpected places is another way to make an entrance welcoming. Here a quirky wood planter with a Welcome sign is attached to a metal garden gate.

Wood branch planter hanging on metal gate at entry to side garden. A sign says welcome.

21 Blue Door with Hayrack Planter

This one is from my garden. Sometimes when it's not ideal to attach garden decor to the main building, it can work to use a substitute. Here I took an old farmhouse door we found at the side of the road and added other items also found at the curb. I leave the petunias to self-seed each year and they have provided flowers for several years now.

Old blue farmhouse door decorated with garden junk and a hayrack planter filled with purple petunias.

Related: Farmhouse Door Garden Art Makeover

22 Grouping of Odd Pots

These four different pots with different plants go so nicely together. I think the varying heights are key plus the plant selections follow the fill-thrill-spill formula. Nicely done.

Collection of potted plants near the back door of house.

Plant Ideas:

The tall, dramatic purple-ish leaves are elephant ears. They are tropical plants and available in various colors and sizes.
Pink impatiens (or begonias, if you prefer) set off the purple.

23 Window Box Up High

There's always room for window box! Here it's installed up above the door and looks really sweet with the half window above it. So long as you have a long-handled watering wand, you're all set.

Window box below a half circle window in the eaves of a house.

24 Romantic Wall-Mounted Hayrack

The curvy shape of this hayrack planter plus the choice of plants go so nicely together. A series of these would look lovely at a garden wedding.

Window box on shed featuring purple flowers.

25 A Place to Relax

And, finally, the most important part of the garden is the place you want to spend time in. So, make that front porch pretty but keep the comfy chairs for your favorite spot.

Seating area in garden with two Adirondack chairs with striped cushions, a birdhouse, and bright red flowers in planters.

And, that's a wrap.

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~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛

Front porch with black urn of vivid pink flowers.