At my house front yard is always second. Back yard is the place of fun in the dirt being creative and moving things around.

When it comes to my customers, most want the front to be perfect and just keep the grass cut in the back.

GREAT QUESTION!

Thats the trend I see as well. Just curious if it was a misconception I might have.

My efforts in the back are largely due to the HOA which has a list of plants only 2 pages long approved for planting. I try to keep the front conservative to stay under the radar in the back. (Yes, my HOA supposedly has control over landscaping in my back yard too.)

I jokingly tell the neighbors that I'm amassing quite a variety of "Crepe Myrtles" in my back yard.

From the Yankee perspective, I still find it puzzling that Texans exude this great attitude of fierceness and independence, but then allow HOA's to have complete control over land that an individual owns. I really would like to know the history of how HOA's came to have enough power to actually foreclose on homes in Texas. (I predict the usual 2 comments to this: 1. I could choose to live in an undeveloped area and do as I please. 2. But those "covenants" are to protect land value... I know both these arguments, but truth be told, there should be a happy medium, where I don't park ATV's on the street, keep my place tidy, don't encroach on my neighbor's space, and everyone's happy!)

My back yard is my oasis, where I can leave the outside world behind!

I have wondered about that also. The first HOA we encountered was in Virginia and it was a pretty strange experience to this Texan. LOL, maybe it's all those Yankees moving here!

That kind of restriction isn't always necessary. We don't have that type of HOA and I love my neighborhood. The city deals with major issues like junk vehicles and neglect, but otherwise we're free to "decorate" our yards and houses as we choose. The result is a unique and desirable place to live with stable home values.

As far as I know, HOAs are really only big in Houston area, where there are no zoning laws. Without the HOAs, there would be McDonalds and mechanics right next to houses (look at The Heights, where they have no HOAs). Growing up in Dallas a few years ago, there were no HOAs at all that I know of.

Personally, I agree with you: respect the HOA wishes in the front and completely ignore them in the back.

I believe it is from people who want to control every aspect of others lives in the belief that if they don't the value of their house will not be valued for as much as they would like for it to be. I was very happy when the Government make a HOA buy back a home for lady a 80+ who had her home taken away from her because she didn't pay her $800 payment. They sold her home for next to nothing and then that person sold her antiques. They had to buy back her home as well as the man who sold her antiques had to buy them back. The HOA had to pay off her mortgage as well as pay her $100,000 in damages. I believe it was about the first time I was happy our government got involved in helping a citizen.

That HOA comment really got us going. Those types of HOAs are in the newer suburbs mostly. They definitely have them in Plano. That's really awful, foreclosing for $800. I remember a news story here in SA where the HOA threatened to foreclose for less than that and I think the guy was serving in Iraq at the time.

Forgot to answer the original question. Most of the front yards here look great and are low maintenance which is how we did ours. The back yards are usually the same and even left a little more natural.

I think my front and back yards are about equal now. When I married my husband and took over his flowerbeds =) the front looked so bare it was kind of embarrassing me. So I worked on it a lot in the beginning. But then I ran out of room there and moved on to the back.

Other than adding some pansies, kale and snaps in the winter, I mainly garden with perennials. So once a bed is full, it's full and I have to move on.

I joke about taking over my husband's yard, but he mows and trims and put in two new flowerbeds for me last fall. I have nothing to complain about. =)

Oh, and I love our HOA, and really appreciate all the time and effort our folks put in to their immediate community. I would challenge any of you who aren't happy with your association to get involved. These people are volunteers and quite overworked, and would be very happy to not only have your help but your input, too.

Our volunteers have saved our neighborhood thousands of dollars just by choosing to plant winter annuals themselves. Takes one crisp November morning and you get to visit with your neighbors while you plant. This year I want to remember to bring coffee and cookies and we'll call it an annual party.

(That said, I personally don't understand people complaining about HOA restrictions when they knew about them before choosing to buy their houses. But whatever.)

My HOA was organized, and deed restrictions put in place, by the developer of the subdivision. I think this is SOP. It is very difficult to market properties where some structure to maintain values does not exist. I don't want to see rusting trucks on blocks in the driveway next to me, and I don't want to look at houses painted in Apache horse blanket color schemes. If this doesn't sit well with free spirits, they are at liberty to look elsewhere.

My HOA maintains the common areas (including a pool, tennis courts, and a large greenbelt / nature park), and contracts for security patrols. This takes money. If a homeowner becomes too delinquent in paying his assessments, they will file a lien against the property. This is as it should be.

wow, this thread got high jacked by the HOA, so much for the good topic and answering the question.

Maybe another thread could be started so people can debate HOA's

I am a totally back yard person, maybe because I see more of my back yard than front yard. When I pull the drapes I have a great view of my back yard. I love to watch out of the window into the back yard when I am cooking or eating b.fast/lunch. There are so many small things I notice. I can't see the front yard from my kitchen so it kind of gets less of my attention.

Both! My husband takes care of the grass and I take care of the beds. The back tends to be a little more experimental though! Great question!

(And I bought my house because we didn't have an HOA! I hate them!)

In my town, if your front yard has tall grass/weeds, the city worker comes by and puts up a big yellow sign saying that it's a violation of having tall weed, blah, blah. The homeowner cannot remove the sign AT ALL even if homeowner immediately fixed up the lawn. It has to be removed by the city worker only. Talk about embarrassment. I often see decent front yard but terrible backyard in my neighborhood. There are a few that has nice backyard though.

HOA is a hit and miss. It really depends on where and who runs it. Some are really strict about EVERYTHING and some are too laid back where they do nothing. I remember reading somewhere that this homeowner got into trouble for buying brand new Ford F-150 truck. HOA's reasoning? It's not nice enough!?!? It had to be LUXURY truck. Lol. That's going overboard....

In other forums on this site, you can find diatribes about restrictions preventing the cultivation of corn and beans in one's front yard.

Municipal employees do not enforce HOA regs.

I haven't had any bad experiences with HOAs, so I have no comment on that. On the original question, I focus on the backyard because that's where the sun IS and the deer are NOT. I wish I could make my frontyard look better for more curb appeal, but it's really hard to find deer-resistant plants that like dry shade!

Like so many of you have already mentioned, I keep the front nice for curb appeal, but the backyard is our real gem. We put in a new tropical garden that we just love to enjoy in the evenings. It would look too 'jungle-y' for the front yard.

Pam

What really sets me off is people who install portable backboards at the curb, so their offspring can shoot hoops from the street. And don't you think those Wal-Mart wishing wells are ever so cute?

I've heard the Neat Front Yard & Experimental Back Yard combination referred to as "Mullet Landscaping" - like the haircut... all business in front and party in the back.

My yard is a kind of mullet...the front yard has more square feet than the back, with 5 large trees, many tree roots, fierce afternoon sun and a parade of dogwalkers. I try to keep it looking respectable and give it some personality with native & butterfly plants. But that's not where my heart is....

The kitchen looks out the back. From the kitchen table we can look out the bay window at winged visitors in the birdbath fountain with as many plants as I can jam into the space and the bees, birds, butterflies and squirrels sure look like they're having a party!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Kids gotta play basketball somewhere ;-)

i live a mile from where i was borned and raised i know most of the people that drive by my house and i live on a busy intersection of 2 blacktop country roads, so that is quiet a few cars passing by. i get really tired of being nice after working at a busy dental office all week so i enjoy working in the back yard because it has a privacy fence around it and i dont have to stop and wave or talk to the people that pass by. so most of my work is in the secret garden in the back yard, and my mom who is 86 is always bringing people down to see the secret garden!!!
but i have my front yard looking good with very little work to it i have a lot of knockouts for show and then just keep it mowed and trimmed. i have lots of people stop by to tell me how pretty the yard is i so it makes all the work i do worth all the time i put into the yards.

I've actually spent more time/effort on the front yard but only because I'm trying to convert it to a more native & easy-care space. It's MUCH smaller than the backyard and I got tired of seeing nothing but grass that looked bad because I don't water it enough. It's about half-way to where I want it. The backyard needs more work, it has a drainage problem and there are a lot of trees so there's a sunlight problem. But, I have a ton of potted plants and a vegetable garden, so it's a start. Both are the result of buying a house in an older, established neighborhood and trying to convert the old "holly bushes around the foundation and St. Augustine lawn" to something that requires less maintenance and much less water. Thankfully, I only have to deal with city code and not an HOA. The city's vague enough that it causes me occasional headaches, anyway!

I wish I could do something about the garbage cans in front of the garage doors in my town. We have an ordinance that 'suggests' that garbage cans be behind a privacy fence, but of course the ordinance is not enforced. These are the big garbage containers that are mechanically hoisted and emptied into the truck. They are very unsightly and ruin any attempt by those of us who put our cans behind a fence and try to beautify our property.

"Mullet landscaping"...lol

We keep the front and backyards about the same - both with lots of plants and little grass. We do have more lawn in the back because of our dogs, but plenty of enjoyable garden space too.

We used to live in an HOA community when we first got married but not anymore. We've been in our current neighborhood for the last 14 years and it is a nice neighborhood without an HOA and I can plant what I want in my front yard. When we did live in an HOA I had to laugh at one of the rules that stated, "Bird baths are not allowed in the front yards, but are allowed only in backyards since they are for the enjoyment of the homeowner." Really? I thought bird baths were for the birds. LOL! We still had a bird bath in our front yard landscape and nobody complained about it. The birds loved it and we kept it clean!