Inspiration

The entire house is about 16 feet wide at the exterior so I couldn't actually fit a table and 2 chairs in that space but I adore the hanging planter. Doing that asap.

Photos of your house would help

Tiny front gardens like this are very common over here and there must be thousands and thousands of them. Googling 'ideas for small front gardens' will yield hundreds of ideas. But please don't cover it with plastic turf. small terrace front gardens - Google Search

I think I included this pic in post but that's my rowhouse, with the dark awning. My neighbor's has the white awning. No fence or anything is separating our concrete slabs.

I like this style but I don't know if it would be consistent with the house.

Are you trying to eliminate the parking option completely? If you want temporary custom long planters could be installed to ring the space and you could Install a different floor treatment in the center. Or go whole hog and remove the concrete and put in permanent landscaping

I lived in Philly, where it is all row houses with concrete slab sidewalks in front. People got very creative about lush plantings using regular large sized planter pots on the sidewalk that you can pick up from the hardware store. I'd focus on creating different levels of greenery in the entire front of your house so you eye isn't drawn to the concrete or container you are planting in.

A. Plant small pots on your stairs, on the far right side out of the foot traffic. Have them be vining plants that cascade down the stairs.

B. Get five planters for the concrete area. Plant a fig tree or rhodendron in the center, then plants of varying heights and some cascading in the other four containers.

C. Build a tiny table like structure that your trash bins fit under and have the top flat surface covered with the kind of planting you would put in a window box. (See Brooklyn pics link below.)

Questions:

1. You need to keep trash bins in this small area, want to keep them hidden, and still need pathway to roll or carry them to the curb?

2. Do you care if your basement window are blocked or do you want to keep the space in front of them open?

3. What climate zone are you in?

4. Are you allowed to attach window boxes to the front of your house

Can you post some pics of your neighbors homes that have yards? Where do they put their trash bins? Are they hidden? Do they actually look nice or do they just have grass in front?

Inspiration

This article shows someinspiring rowhouse planting in Brooklyn.

This is aPhilly sidewalk container gardens link.

Good article on how to make insulated sidewalk planters with drainage.

Old City Sidewalk Garden · More Info

How much do you want to garden? I think the choice is between an abudant display, on both stairs and slab, or something formal and least care. Normally I like over-the-top, but if that were my space, I would go for least clutter and maximum design.

I'd take everything off the stairs and create a lighter door with copper or carame or ivory tones -- or sage? And then I would go for a geometic design on the slab. I gather you need to keep trash bins out there, so that is one fixed point, so then draw a geometric look from there. I'd favor squares over rounds and curves because your stairs are squares and planes. I would consider lightly painting the concrete itself, something subtle, or using a raised design. Then use plainting to define the fixed points of the design. I would avoid high maintenence and containers that collect puddles of water to avoid attracting insects and animals.

You mentioned there wasn’t a fence separating your space from the neighbors.

Are you friends with your neighbor? Would you want to combine the spaces to have a larger garden area?

If you don’t want to combine, are you ok with the spaces just being open to each other?

Or do you want to have a separated space?

@Kendrah thank you! I like the urns a lot. I feel like my particular neighborhood is similiar to parts of Philly I've seen. I'm in Brooklyn (zone 7B).

Yes I'd need to keep a pathway to roll my trash bin to the curb

I wouldn't particularly mind blocking the window to the basement

And, yes, I could attach window boxes! Hadn't thought of that

Here are examples of some of the identical rowhouses with tiny fenced yards (pardon the ugliness on trash day lol!)

@HALLETT & Co.

We are only allowed to park in the street, so I don't have to worry about that. I would love to remove the concrete, but when we asked a contractor he said it would be detrimental to the foundation. Was he exaggerating? (I also probably don't have the budget at this particular moment.)

Thanks again for everyone's feedback!!

fwiw, here's what I would do if I lived in your house

Plant a tree in the bed at the sidewalk. Lighten the color of the storm door and door.

Put 2 rows of container plants at either side of the slab, tall enough to hide the bins on the left. The right row would define the property line (and hide the neighbors bins.

Put a central tall tapered container in the middle of the slab that has the same shape as the keystone in the arched stone above the window. Use annuals to create a fountain look.

Paint/stencil a light formal design with subtle color on the slab itself within the square, probably to echo the hues of the brickwork in the street.

If all that was a bit too bare (but I don't think it would), I'd add a modest copper window box (I also would change the downspout gutter to copper). I'd favor light colored flowers in the window box. But I'd rather keep that window matched to my neighbor's.

@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK I think the word "terrace" was exactly what my searches were missing. I kept searching "front yard" but your suggestion was much more helpful! Home improvement stuff requires so much new vocabulary.

@Dig Doug’s design is very pretty yet also raises some issues to point out. When I lived in Philly, I had a tree pit in front of the stairs, like yours. I would not want to add any urns at the foot of your stairs on the sidewalk as it could make a narrowing / obstacle course for strollers, walkers, wheel chairs. In fact we removed our tree and pit when we rebricked the sidewalk.

Google NYC tree pits. (I live in Mamhattan now.) Tje city jas great resources for what konds of trees to plant and how ma y other items you should or should not plant in a pit. Watch out for plants with invasive roots that can heave the sidewalk.

Doug's pic assumes you can share the whole space with your neighbor. Would your neighbor allpw that? If so you have much more room to play.

I would not remove the sidewalk for dirt. It is really expensive and with insane super soaker climate storms, I'd rathwr water run down a sloped aidewalk and in to the storm sewer than seep into a new mini yard and perhaps flood my basement. .

I hope the concrete slab isn’t holding up your house! Seriously though the concrete slab should have been poured (emphasis on should) with an isolation board against the house to prevent it interfering. If you were to remove it you need to make sure the ground is graded so water flows away from the house. Why all the concrete if it wasn’t for parking?

You can buy planters with wheels, so that might increase your options for being able to easily move out the bins out and in while using the whole slab space and having large plants that need space for their roots.

Urinating dogs and digging dogs are the bane of planting areas within sidewalks in mnay urban areas. I think trees are more an urban plus than a minus, so if you decide on a tree in the sidewalk cutout, consider filling the rest of the space with something other than plants that will still look nice and not impede rainwater getting to the roots.

As usual, Dig Doug has come up with an attractive design. I like the single, large planter box idea. But I have 2 comments: If you put any kind of a "border" around the sidewalk dirt pit, do not have it higher than the concrete sidewalk. Otherwise it presents a tripping hazard for those walking on the sidewalk or exiting their cars. This is one of my (big) pet peeves about landscaping around places where people walk. Secondly, I would avoid crepe myrtle trees. Yes, they are pretty for a few weeks each year but they are incredibly messy for 52 weeks of the year.

@k8cd I think we'd prefer to have separate spaces, but not to the extent that we'd need a fence, if that makes sense?

In NYC some people fit a kind of rosette grate into the sidewalk cutout. The hole in the middle is large enough for the tree trunk, and the grate lets water through, but you can actually step on the grate surface, level with the sidewalk. Hazard for high heel wearers but typical of many grates in NYC people live with underfoot.

Could you divide yours and theirs with planters? We did this on one side of our deck to give some privacy from neighbors. A good tall grass is a very friendly divide.

porch · More Info

1. Play with layout

Use sidewalk chalk to draw the layout of different sized planters to see what you can actually fit. I think it will be eyeopening. I suspect that you will only have 4-5 ft, which is plenty but will give you a realistic sense of what you are working with.

2. Investigate evergreens

The pics I posted are mostly of planters in Philly and England. Those climates are warmer than NYC. Stroll around high rises that have large container plantings with evergreens to see what will survive the winter here. I think it would be nice to have one evergreen container to anchor things, then add other containers around it. (Unless you want to lug all of your planters inside in the winter and have some place to store them.) Also, do things tend to get taken from your neighborhood? Will a planter get stolen?

Just had much fun google street viewing some of the sidewalk container gardens in my old Philly neighborhood. These pics were taken in very early spring.

Mostly evergreens in this fortress of planters. (Nice hiding place for racoons and rats!)

Simple but effective symmetry.

Good high and low combo

With only 2 planters, less is more. Nice oak barrel planters can hold a lot.

I'd keep it clean and simple for such a small area: two dark rectangular planters to echo your dark canopy and window frames, maybe with clumping bamboo (fargesia?) for screening in the one separating your area from the neighbor's, your lilies or an evergreen shrub in the one hiding the trash bins. I would remove what looks like sunken bricks at the edge of the tree well, fill in with topsoil, and plant Chocolate Chip ajuga there (blooms bright blue in spring). Pots of geraniums on the stair walls provide a finishing touch of color. And the little tree will grow!

How gorgeous!! I moved to the burbs because I was unable to afford a beautiful townhouse like yours. I am always inspired by Ken Druse’s books and urban container gardens. Decide how you want to use space, sketch a scale model of your dream, and see how Dream intersects with your budget.

Really cute designs but I agree the trees and planters close to the walkway will be magnets for dogs.

You can request the city plant a tree in front of your home. Some cities do this and plant crap trees, but NYC does a really nice job of planting quality trees that will thrive in your area and look good. We just got one on our street this summer. It is really nice. You can request it here. https://www.nycgovparks.org/services/forestry/request/submit

There are also great tips here about how to maintain NYC street tree and pits including how to deal with watering, dogs, and soil. https://www.nycgovparks.org/trees/tree-care

How about gettina bit inventive to hide the trash can to start that is great idea and plants too.

Am I the only one who thinks there's already a baby tree in that pavement square??

You're right, there is; that's the one I "grew" for my mockup.

Put up some type of six foot solid fencing down the property line.

Then on your side you could have some flower pots, a bird bath, string lights, and some garden art.

Ideally, tear out the concrete and plant a beautiful little yard on your side of the property line.

Oops I just read you keep your garbage can here too. Build a cute little shed or something for it on your side of the fence. Can you get by with a smaller can?

This looks like a historic area with a fantastic brick street. Are there any rules about what you can do to the front garden? For example a 6 foot fence sounds not only ugly but also possibly illegal. Are you allowed to erect sheds there? And what is the ownership situation? Can you garden right to the kerb or is there supposed to be a sidewalk left clear? How much traffic is there? Would you want to sit out there?

Not to be a Debby Downer, but as a former new yorker I wouldnt consider plans that are attractive shelters for vagrants. Fill the space.