28 Ideas for Landscaping Your Front Yard Using Rocks and Mulch

It is important to make your front yard appealing and affordable. Landscape rocks and mulch are a low-maintenance, budget-friendly way to add texture to your front landscape.

Consider using a combination of mulch and rocks to enhance your front yard design. This will save you money and time. You can use more low maintenance plants, and water less while still adding aesthetic appeal to your yard. We share some of our favorite landscaping ideas which include both mulch and rocks.

01

Textures in a Variety of Textures
The wood fence posts on a farmhouse-style home
Mindy Gayer Photo by Vanessa Lentine
This front yard is a mix of materials and textures, from the natural wood fence all the way to the white bricks. With its landscape stones and concrete slabs, the pathway that leads up to the house is textured. Mulch garden beds soften the appearance.

02

Beautiful Large Boulders
Landscape with boulders

The addition of large stones and boulders to your front yard can give it more height and dimension. They are also easier to maintain than annuals and perennials, without compromising the beauty.

03

The Perfect Combo
Mediterranean style house with minimal landscaping
The Home Consultant
Consider adding a front path and driveway that match, made from concrete pavers or landscape stones. Mulch garden beds can soften your home’s look and add extra greenery.

04

Pebble Garden Border
The bungalow has a small front yard

This front garden’s smooth pebble border creates a stunning contrast to the dark mulch. Using pebbles also makes it easy to change the size and shape your front garden.

05

Front Yards with Minimalist Style
Front home with minimal landscaping
The Home Consultant
The front yard of a minimalist home should be minimalist as well. This front yard is made up of landscaping stones with a small circle of mulch to create a contrast of color. This low-maintenance lawn is the perfect complement for the rest of the house’s design.


06

The Leveling Rock
Front home with rock landscaping
Amy Leferink at Interior Impressions. Photo by Jill Hamilton.
It is possible to create an amazing garden in a sloped front yard. This sloped yard uses boulders to level the garden while mulch gives it a classic, clean look.


07

Front Yards with a Smaller Front Yard
Front home with landscaping

Instead of a large garden in front, the home’s exterior has an eye-catching drive and a small garden with beautiful landscaping. The pathway is filled with landscape rocks to create a low maintenance way to add texture and visual interest.


08

Simple and Clean Look
The rock landscaping on a breezeway
Kate Marker Interiors
The breezeway of this home, constructed with concrete and landscaping stones, connects the front yard to the backyard. Mulch landscaping surrounds the walkway to create a simple, streamlined look.


09

A Curved Design
Front yard with a row cypress trees

Mulch, mulch and landscaping rocks are used to spruce this beautiful lawn. The curved shape adds an original and timeless look.


10

Clean Lines
The driveway is surrounded by landscaping
Cathie Hong Interiors Photo by Margaret Austin photography
The garage door, porch, roof, and fence all have clean lines. The driveway is a combination of sleek concrete slabs, landscaping rocks and green landscaping.


11

Sloped Yard
The yard is landscaped with mulch and rock.

Stones are an excellent way to make the most of your sloped front yard. These stones are both garden art and steps that allow you to move from one side to the other of the yard.


12

Complementary Colours
A cottage style home exterior
Kate Marker Interiors
The front yard is filled with a variety of plants, from matching shrubs to topiaries. The landscaping rocks on the large walkway leading up to the front entrance complement the white exterior of the house, the light blue front doors and the dark mulch landscaping.


13

Multiple Garden Areas
The yard after new landscaping

This front yard has different areas of mulch that create multiple focal points. Each area is adorned with large boulders and greenery for a clean, beautiful look.


14

The Fire Pit Garden
Rock landscaping around a firepit

The concrete pavers and chairs are all sleek and clean. A mulch garden and landscape rocks add texture to the area.

15

Stacked Stone
The garden terrace in front of a slate-rock wall was just weeded, cleaned and mulched evenly. It is surrounded by ornamental flowers and bushes.

It is easy to add a touch of elegance to your garden by using stacked stone. This yard’s stacked-stone border adds to its natural appearance while allowing the annuals and perennials to stand out.


16

A Creative Approach
Rock garden with a pattern
Mocha Girl Place
A rock garden is an easy way to enhance the visual appeal of your yard. This patterned rock feature a variety landscape rocks that are in different shades. It looks like a work of art.


17

Fill the Space
Landscape with mulch and rocks with a firepit
Amy Leferink Interior Impressions
When it comes to mulching, think outside of the box. You can plant flowers but also add pavers, large stones, planter boxes and free-standing plants hangers to create more visual appeal.


18

Earthy Tones
Front home exterior
Amy Leferink at Interior Impressions Photo by Jill Hamilton
This home’s exterior is a beautiful blend of earthy colors that complement the natural environment. The front garden of this home is striking from a distance, with its combination of brown mulch and boulders.


19

The Grand Look
Front yard landscaping with large boulders and rocks
Amy Leferink Interior Impressions
You can be bold if you have a big front yard. This front yard has a large mulch bed that is bordered with several large stones that give it a grand appearance.


20

The Under a Tree Garden
Landscape design around a large, flowering tree with ferns, rock border, and lawn

It is possible to extend the garden by placing a large tree in your front yard. This tree has a mulched garden with large stones that immediately draw the eye.


21

Outdoor Zones
A neon sign adorns an outdoor seating area

You can differentiate your zones by using different flooring types. This yard uses gravel for the seating area, while the remainder of the yard is made up of mulch and natural materials.


22

Pairing Red Mulch
Copy space showing the square bricks that form a curve to separate mulch or gravel from small stones, in a backyard garden.

Mulch is available in three colors: brown, black and red. Each type of mulch offers its own advantages. When paired with neutrals, red mulch creates a stunning look.


23

Safety and budget-friendly
Gravel and mulch around a fire pit area

Landscape rocks can be a safe and affordable option for fire pits. A mulch garden surrounds this fire pit, which contrasts with the landscape rock.


24

Mulch and Rocks in a Variety
A birds-eye view of a garden
A good rule to follow when choosing what to put in your garden is to use a variety textures and colors. This garden has a variety of different landscape rocks that are in various shades to add interest. It also includes some mulch as a contrast.


25

The Symmetrical Look
Front home with landscaping
Marie Flanigan Interiors
This gravel and concrete path that leads to this home’s front door is an easy, budget-friendly project that will compliment any garden style.


26

A Tranquil Spot
A new flowerbed landscaped with orange pebbles and flat rocks. It also includes a rose bush. Snapdragon flowers are planted in the dark mulch.

You can decorate and fill a garden bed with anything that makes you happy. This mulch garden has a section with pavers and landscape rocks that leads to a bench. This design element adds an unique look to the garden and provides a quiet spot for relaxation.


27

Front Yards that are Low Maintenance
The exterior of a Southwestern home with rock landscaping
Michelle Boudreau Design
The landscaping in this home, located in the southwest part of the United States, is made up of beautiful natural stone. From the mound at the back yard to the front yard, the house is covered in it. The succulents that line the staircase add a unique touch, without having to maintain a garden.


28

Corner Yard
The house is surrounded by stone pavers, rock landscaping and other natural materials.

A corner can be used to enhance the look of your yard. This yard has a red mulch and a stone border that makes the green plants pop.

What is better, landscaping stones or mulch?
Both landscaping rocks and mulch have advantages and disadvantages. Landscaping stones last longer than mulch, which needs to be replaced annually, saving you money over time. Landscape rocks come in many shapes, colors and sizes, which can make them a great addition to your yard. Mulch attracts pests, but landscaping rocks don’t. Rocks are not organic like mulch and so do not help plants grow. They can also overheat the plants, requiring more watering.

What should you put under the landscaping stones?
Add a layer or landscaping fabric before laying down the rocks. It will prevent weeds growing in between the stones, and you can remove them easier by lifting the fabric.

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