28 Front Yard Landscaping Ideas With Rocks and Mulch (2024)

Gardening

Landscaping

Farima Ferguson

Farima Ferguson began her career at HGTV where she worked with designers to write about home design. Her work has appeared in HGTV, Insider Reviews, Travel Channel, and more.

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Published on 07/12/23

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28 Front Yard Landscaping Ideas With Rocks and Mulch (2)

Your front yard is the first thing your guests and neighbors see, and creating an eye-catching front yard is relatively easy and budget-friendly if you use the right materials. Using landscaping rocks and mulch is a budget-friendly, low-maintenance way to add texture and definition to your front landscape.

If you're ready to spruce up your front yard's design without the high cost and maintenance, consider a combination of rocks and mulch. This allows you to use more low-maintenance plants and means less watering while adding visual appeal to your yard. Below, we share our favorite landscaping ideas that feature both rocks and mulch.

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A Variety of Textures

You'll find many materials and textures in this front yard from the natural wood fence to the white brick exterior. The pathway leading up to the home is not short on texture with its sleek concrete slabs and landscape rocks. A mulch garden bed helps soften the look.
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Stunning Large Boulders

Large stones and boulders can add height and dimension to a front yard, not to mention they're more low-maintenance than planting annuals and perennials without compromising on beauty.
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The Perfect Combo

To give your home's curb appeal a complete look, consider adding a matching front pathway and driveway made of concrete pavers and landscape rocks. To help soften the look and for extra greenery, plant a mulch garden bed.
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Pebble Garden Border

A smooth pebble border in this front garden provides a beautiful contrast with the dark garden mulch. Plus, using pebbles makes it easier to adjust the size and shape of your front garden by simply moving the pebbles.
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A Minimalistic Front Yard

A minimalist home exterior needs a minimalist front yard to match. This front yard consists of landscaping rocks with a small circular patch of mulch for a contrast in color. The low-maintenance yard is the perfect complement to the rest of the home's design.
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Leveling With Rocks

A sloped front yard is a great opportunity to create a stunning garden. This sloped yard features boulders to help level the garden, while mulch brings a clean, classic look.
See Also
22 Budget-Friendly Front Yard Landscaping Ideas Front gardens: How to get the wow factor all year round 21 Front Yard Landscaping Ideas With Rocks That Anyone Can Copy 25 Front Lawn Landscaping Ideas For 2024 - A Nest With A Yard
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A Smaller Front Yard

In lieu of a large front garden, this home's front exterior features an eye-catching driveway and a smaller garden with beautiful landscaping. Landscape rocks fill the pathway for a low-maintenance way to add more texture and visual appeal.
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A Clean, Simple Look

This home's breezeway, made with landscaping rocks and concrete, helps connect the front yard with the backyard. Mulch landscaping flanks the walkway for a streamlined, simple look.
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A Curved Design

This beautiful green lawn gets a spruce up with cypress bushes, landscaping rocks and mulch. The curved design adds a one-of-a-kind look that's also timeless.
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Clean Lines

This home features clean lines throughout including the roof line, the porch, the fence, and the garage door. The driveway features sleek concrete slabs and landscaping rocks that look beautiful with the green landscaping on either side.
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A Sloped Yard

If your front yard is on a slope, stones are a great way to take advantage of the height. The stones in this yard act as garden art as well as steps to get from one side of the yard to the other.
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Complementary Colors

This front yard features many lush plants from shrubs to matching topiaries. The large walkway up to the front door features landscaping rocks that complement the home's white exterior, light blue front door and dark mulch landscaping.
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Multiple Garden Areas

This front yard features different areas of mulch throughout that provide multiple focal points. Each area features greenery and large boulders for a beautiful, clean look.
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A Garden for the Fire Pit

This fire pit area features sleek, clean lines from the concrete pavers to the sleek chairs. Landscape rocks and a mulch garden surrounding the fire pit add texture and interest to the space.
See Also
21 Front Yard Landscaping Ideas to Boost Your Curb Appeal
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Stacked Stone

Stacked stone is a relatively easy way to elevate your garden. The stacked stone border in this yard adds to the natural look of this garden while helping the perennials and annuals stand out.
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An Artistic Approach

Choosing a rock garden as a landscaping option is a low-maintenance way to add visual appeal to your yard. This patterned rock garden features a variety of landscape rocks in varying shades that resembles a piece of art.
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Fill the Space

Think outside the box when it comes to filling a mulch bed. Not only can you plant flowers, but you can add large stones, pavers, planter boxes, and free-standing plant hangers for more variety and visual appeal.
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Earthy Tones

The beautiful, earthy tones of this home exterior blend beautifully with its natural surroundings. Even from afar, the home's front garden stands out with the combination of boulders and a brown mulch garden.
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A Grand Look

If you have a large front yard to work with, you can go big. This front yard features a large mulch garden that's bordered by several large rocks that provide a grand look.
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Under a Tree Garden

A large tree in a front yard is a great opportunity to extend your garden. This tree is surrounded by a mulch garden bordered with large rocks that instantly draw the eye.
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Outdoor Zones

If your yard features different zones, you can use different types of flooring to differentiate them. This yard has gravel in the sitting area while the rest of the yard consists of mulch and other natural materials.
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Pairing Red Mulch

Mulch, like landscape rocks, come in a few varieties: black, brown and red. Each type of mulch has their advantages. Red mulch provides a beautiful look when paired with warm neutrals like in this yard that's filled with landscape rocks.
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Safe and Budget-Friendly

Landscape rocks are a budget-friendly and safe option for fire pit areas. This fire pit area is surrounded by a mulch garden that provides a contrast with the landscape rocks.
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A Variety of Rocks and Mulch

When picking out what to fill your garden with, a good rule of thumb is to go with a variety of textures and colors. This garden features a few types of landscape rocks in varying shades that add interest, as well as some mulch for extra contrast.
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A Symmetrical Look

The gravel and concrete pathway that leads to the front door of this home is a budget-friendly, easy project that will complement any style garden.
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A Tranquil Spot

A garden bed can be decorated and filled with whatever makes you happy. This mulch garden features an area with landscape rocks and pavers that lead to a small bench. The design feature adds a one-of-a-kind look to the garden while providing a tranquil spot to relax.
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Low-Maintenance Front Yard

This home in the southwestern part of the United States is surrounded by beautiful, natural stone, from the mound in the backyard to the front yard landscaping. The succulents leading up the stairs add an unexpected touch without the maintenance of a garden.
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Corner Yard

The corner of a yard is like a blank canvas that can really elevate a yard's look. This yard features a stacked stone border with red mulch that helps the green plants stand out.

Is it better to use mulch or landscaping rocks?

Both mulch and landscaping rocks have their advantages and disadvantages. Landscaping rocks last for years, as opposed to mulch that needs to be replaced every year, which saves money in the long run. Landscaping rocks also come in a variety of shapes, sizes and color, so they can add a lot of curb appeal. They also don't attract pests like mulch does. However, rocks aren't an organic material like mulch, so they don't aid in plant growth, and rocks can overheat your plants and require more watering.

Do you need to put anything under landscaping rocks?

Before laying rocks down, add a layer of landscaping fabric or newspaper. This prevents weeds from growing between the rocks, and it's easier to lift the fabric to remove the rocks than dig them up.

28 Front Yard Landscaping Ideas With Rocks and Mulch (2024)

A Variety of Textures

Stunning Large Boulders

The Perfect Combo

Pebble Garden Border

A Minimalistic Front Yard

Leveling With Rocks

A Smaller Front Yard

A Clean, Simple Look

A Curved Design

Clean Lines

A Sloped Yard

Complementary Colors

Multiple Garden Areas

A Garden for the Fire Pit

Stacked Stone

An Artistic Approach

Fill the Space

Earthy Tones

A Grand Look

Under a Tree Garden

Outdoor Zones

Pairing Red Mulch

Safe and Budget-Friendly

A Variety of Rocks and Mulch

A Symmetrical Look

A Tranquil Spot

Low-Maintenance Front Yard

Corner Yard

Is it better to use mulch or landscaping rocks?

Do you need to put anything under landscaping rocks?