Front yard
“Buy whatever kids are selling on card tables in their front yard.”
Practice Being in the Front Yard
Plant a front yard garden. Consider container gardens of flowers, herbs, or tomatoes.
Play front-yard games. Draw out four-square on the drive.
Put a picnic table in your front yard. Read the inspiring story of The Turquoise Table.
Bring out the grill. Invite neighbors to a weekend front yard BBQ.
The front yard is a practice of being visible and available.
The front yard may be considered only a showpiece in certain neighborhoods, while the backyard is associated as the place for relaxation and conversation. But that is changing. Allison Messner, CEO of Yardzen, an online landscape design firm, has seen a 150% increase year-over-year in requests for functional front yards. The front yard can be cultivated to be a location for connection.
A front yard garden creates a space where the required rhythms of watering and working will regularly connect to your neighbors. A garden your neighbors can easily see provides onramps to conversations about what is growing well this season. Inviting neighbors to cut herbs or pick produce from your garden is advanced vulnerability around place.
Front-yard games are timeless. The street transforms into a football field. Children magically emerge from houses when they see others playing in the street. The practice of playing in the front yard should not be reserved for children. Set up corn hole in the drive or on the sidewalk. Extend an invitation for friendly neighborhood competition.
Moving the grill to the front yard is a universal signal a block party is underway. Indoors, people gather in a kitchen. Outdoors, people gather around a grill. A front yard grill is an opportunity to cultivate connection through hot dogs and hamburgers.
Practice being in the front yard. Begin the weekend with a cup of coffee, or enjoy happy hour to celebrate the end of the workday, in the front yard. Place a picnic table, or an extra chair, in the front yard as an invitation for your neighbors to join. Your home may not have a front yard. It may the front porch, or front steps. Practice front yard living. Practice being visible and available.
