What planting zone are you?

Post a picture taken straight on

9b

More frontal view

We need a frontal view of your whole house and its surroundings. These closeups of your plants don’t tell us much.

What are you trying to achieve? Looks like you have lots of young things planted with no room for grass. You don’t want grass?

You mention bringing the fence forward. You didn’t tell us why. Because you want a place to sit and admire your yard in private? Room for kids to play? Dogs to run? Install a hot tub? Barbeque and entertain? This is important information if you want advice.

What everyone else said. It's a big space and you need a long-term garden/hardscape plan. Right now it's just little things spaced out too far (imho) without an overall plan. Do you need drought resistant? Is there a sprinkler system? etc etc

The tree in the back might be dead. And one of the plants is maybe an inch from the sidewalk. I would move it back. Seems odd one plant is planted that close relative to the others. Is it a weed?

You have a full planting in the area. Why not just let everything grow up? Later you can decide what you like and don't like. I would at a minimum let the trees get big since whatever you plant has to fit in with them. Sun wise and water wise.

I think a private back yard would be where i strat . I think either a nice patio or deck yes to moving the fence to create that space . Make sure it is big enough for seating, BBQ outdoor dining and anything else you need to enjoy the outdoors. Then the front becomes less of job to get right . Yes we need better pics of the house dead on and also is that the front entry on the side ? Maybe a rough plan of the whole yrad with some measurements would be good too.

Don't move the fence. It creates your back yard, right? I would create a fenced front yard with a new fence just like the existing one. It would abut the garage wall at the end of the stone, and extend from there straight out to meet the existing fence.

Have a gate at the front walk that is the same as the fencing. We have this set-up and works great. We did this out of necessity as we have no back yard, just a setback. Delivery people or guests have no problem finding the front porch by opening the gate. And yes, check your HOA or city codes. You may have to reduce the height from 6 feet to 4 feet or make other changes but that's okay.

I don’t have a full front-facing photo yet. I’ll try to get one soon! This home is a new-build and the drought-resistant softscape came with it. Here is a photo of our lot. They put the fence to divide the front and back yards by our entrance door, but we essentially have a wide side yard. We are a young couple and want to improve the landscaping. We would love more privacy as we don’t feel the need for a large front yard - we just want something serene but can host small gatherings. We love japanese gardens and Mediterranean-themed landscapes as well.

You need to first find out IF you can move it.

Is there an HOA? if yes, you'll have to ask them if you can move the fence.

If the answer is "yes, do your yard any way you like", come back here and tell everyone what you would like to achieve.

No HOA

if you move the fence forward, what would you like on the side of the home?

in keeping w/the same design, what if you did a sitting area, or a firepit, or a lounge space?

We can pretty much do whatever we’d like. Moving the fence shouldn’t be an issue if thats the route we take. We just aren’t sure and need some ideas.

The fence starting location was so your visitors could access the front door without being blocked by a gate or the fence. But if you want your visitors to walk through a gate you can move the fence further toward the front.

I would stain the fence a gray stain taken from the gray of your stone.

I'd search on Houzz for California Xeriscape and get ideas. Here are some:

Xeriscape Garden, Jungle Forest Garden, Vegetable Garden & Subtropical Garden · More Info

Low Water Love · More Info

Low Water Love · More Info

You can have a meadow look if all your plants will be the same size. You start with a matrix layer: a relatively low-growing ground cover. Something like silver carpet. Then have a bunch of color scattered around --- maybe a yarrow and or pink muhly grass. Then have a few special plants.

You want to start with plugs, beause they are cheaper and you need a lot of them. Then, you'll need to water until they get established, so plant at the beginning of the rainy season.

I'm assuming that by moving the fence you're moving it forward towards the street? Or are you moving it towards the back of the house? Personally I prefer patio space in the back -- front patios don't get used as often because they aren't private.

But whatever your preference, first think about how you will access the side yard. Is there a door along the side of the house? If not, is there a window that can be converted into a door? I ask because I've found there's a direct correlation between the ease of access to an outdoor space and the frequency of use. Walking around the house to get to a patio tends to be an "out of sight, out of mind" situation.

You have a lovely home and with an irregular lot, which could result in a beautiful and interesting garden. Before you invest in more plants or hardscape, consider investing a small amount in an overall design plan. Many local nurseries offer this service for very reasonable prices, and sometimes offer good discounts when you buy your plants from them. Plus you can create your garden gradually as time and money allows. Good luck in your new home.

Thank you all! I appreciate the ideas. We do have a window behind the fence that can be converted to a door for ease of access to the side yard.

I think my current dilemma is whether we bring the fence forward close to the street for more backyard privacy. It would mean we would only have a more closed-off/narrow walkway to our entrance door. Not sure if that would look nice. We probably wouldn’t do a patio in the front of the house because as someone mentioned it’s less privacy so less likelihood of us using that space.

Moving the fence where it connects to the house far forward in front of the door could definitely make a closed off tunnel feeling at your entry. You could certainly move it forward to line up with the exterior where the front door is (keeping the pillar / porch area in front of the fence). Another idea would be to have the fence run at a 45 degree angle instead of trying to run 90 degrees from the house. It would move more of the yard behind the fence if that's your goal.

Alternatively, I like Beth's suggestion to make use of the front / side yard in front of the fence if you can make it work for you. I love seeing a pretty seating or courtyard in front of a house. A low wall or fence around it could make it still feel cozy without completely closing off your entrance.

No no, not a long alley along the front walk. The front door is fenced in and part of the yard. The fence crosses the walk with a gate to get to the front door.

Thanks Trace I think that definitely is a good idea if we really want to maximize privacy.

Even if you don't have a HOA, you may have zoning laws that limit what you can do. I doubt it would be a problem, but might want to check with your local zoning authority for set backs. A lot of this can be read online.

You don't want to start moving the fence and then have a neighbor report you and put a stop to everything.

@User

I like the idea of moving fence forward on a bit of diagonal aross the front yard as @pricklypearcactus suggests. Looking at aerial view of lot, it looks like doing that would add a good bit of space to back yard. That side of yard might also have nice shade or morning sun, more privacy etc. or just a different light exposure from back side depending on house orientation. I would not want to have a side main entry front door that’s also hidden behind a gate. Too challenging for guest access & also creates challenges with being able to lock gate for security since the gate would also effectively block front door access. Along with moving fence & reataining the existing starting point from house, I’d add a gate in that stretch for access to back yard so that guests & home owner could access back yard without having to track through the house. Create a walkway using pavers or other stone leading from the front entry area close to the pillar and that leads a person to the gate. Would be great for back yard entertaining. There would not be a problem locking that gate from inside the yard for a bit of security. We have padlocks with a cipher code (no key needed) on both of our gates. The end point of this diagonal fence would be the existing end point of fence too. Lay out the new fence line with a garden hose to easily see the back yard space gain. @charles kidder point is also a good one so of course, check that out before doing anything, It doesn’t appear that moving the fence to a diagonal creates any driver sight line of traffic blocking so would be surprised if there’s an issue. The builder likely built fence straight across as cheaper for them with fewer fence panels needed.

Thanks! I’m seeing the benefit of a diagonal fence. We’ll test it out this weekend!

where's the front door?

Here’s a better photo. Although we’ve considered all options contributed, I think we still may bring the fence forward and keep our walkway to the door narrow. We want a wider, more private side yard.

We’ll still keep a section of front yard lawn but it’ll be skinny.