Garden designers often refer to the front yard as the 'stepchild' of landscaping. Designing a small urban front yard is a real challenge and one that I've been striving to meet for a decade. Along the way I have found what succeeds and fails in limited spaces.

Unlike a large plot, a solitary vision is necessary in a small urban front yard and everything must have a purpose . Rarely can more than one statement be made successfully. To me this is the biggest and most important decision in the design process.

Another very important consideration is how much time one plans to spend on the garden or if they haven't the time, how much money for maintenance. With that said start looking at your style of architecture because that is where most garden designers begin.

These days developers leave very little space in new construction for an urban front yard and even that tends to be an odd-shaped rectangle or square. I've seen such spaces planted with a few small boxwood and ivy, or Japanese yews . Needless to say not very interesting or colorful.

My approach is to soften a rectangle with a sweeping curved bed. If there is room I select a small ornamental tree as a focal point and unusual evergreens such as Japanese Cypress, Rhododendrons, or Pieris Japonica. It is worthwhile to plant the most outstanding specimens to add interest to a small area. In front of this background I add long-blooming perennials, depending on sun or shade, that provide color, form and texture. Instead of a lawn I use an evergreen groundcover such as Pachysandra or low-spreading Japanese rock garden juniper.

In an established small urban front yard old overgrown shrubs and trees are the norm. When I moved into my century old house there were three pathetic honeysuckles on their last leg . Lucky for me none of the old ugly overgrown evergreens that are commonly found and are a pain to dig out. I used to bemoan the fact that my front yard was small but in comparison with the ones I encounter now , I think it's a good size.

Having two squares separated by a sidewalk the first step I took in designing my small urban yard was to carve out a gently curved bed to alleviate the box shape of the yard . As a rule of thumb such beds are at least 3 to 5 feet in width . For my focal point I chose a Wisteria Tree that has beautiful purple blooms in early Summer and is a most unusual sight. My shrub border consists of a Korean lilac ( deciduous ), Low growing Japanese 'Densi' Yew, 'Limelight' and Oakleaf Hydrangea, ornamental grass, ' Japanese rock garden Juniper , Balloon Flower, Autumn Joy' Sedum, Carex and lots of Tulips and Daffodils.

On the opposite side of the yard I planted a small dwarf purple-leafed weeping Crabapple as a focal point and around it i an evergreen azalea, Japanese rock garden juniper, 'Autumn Joy ' Sedum, Bergenia, Asters, Creeping Phlox, Daylilies, and groundcover.

My small urban front yard looks natural and informal with four seasons of interest, even in winter when everything is bare except the evergreens and it is that creativity that I try to bring to all the small urban front yards that I design.

Learn more about this author, Carolyn Choi.
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