This Front Yard Was Almost Entirely Grass Until They Removed the Lawn and Started Over
Grass once covered most of this Oregon front yard, running from the sidewalk toward the house with planting confined to a few areas near the exterior. The lawn was established, but much of the space remained open ground without paths, seating, or much separation from the street.
Reddit user u/traskrogers removed the lawn and rebuilt the yard with mulch, gravel, flagstones, pavers, planting beds, and a seating area. Native pollinator plants joined Mediterranean and low-water varieties, while drip irrigation replaced the need to water a broad stretch of grass.
What started as lawn became a series of planted and paved areas connected across the front of the house. A low wood fence and trellis also gave the seating area more separation from the sidewalk, addressing another reason the homeowner wanted to change how the yard worked.
Grass Filled Most of the Front Yard
Before the work began, grass stretched across the corner lot between the sidewalk, driveway, and house. Existing shrubs and small planting areas sat close to the exterior, leaving the lawn as the dominant feature from the street.
Removing it meant starting with the largest surface in the yard rather than adding another bed around its edges. The homeowner rented a sod cutter and removed the turf, cutting about 1½ to 2 inches deep. text
Bare Soil Revealed How Much Space the Lawn Occupied
Once the sod came out, the front yard became an open stretch of soil from the sidewalk toward the house. Existing trees and shrubs remained, but the former lawn no longer dictated where new planting or circulation had to go.
Instead of putting another ground cover across the cleared area, the homeowner divided the space between planting beds, paths, gravel, and mulch.
Gravel Created a New Route Through the Yard
Gravel covers a broad section near the sidewalk, with large rectangular pavers forming a route through it. Dark mulch fills the adjoining beds, creating separate surfaces where one continuous lawn had been.
The gravel also connects the street side of the property with planting and seating areas farther inside the yard, making movement part of the new layout rather than leaving the lawn as open space to cross.
Flagstones Broke Up the Mulched Planting Beds
Large flagstones continue through the mulched sections, with young plants spaced around them instead of arranged in a narrow border against the house. Rocks, grasses, shrubs, and flowering plants occupy different points across the former lawn.
Plant choice was tied to the reason for removing the grass. The homeowner said the additions were either native pollinator plants or Mediterranean and low-water varieties selected to reduce water use while supporting bees and hummingbirds.
Low Fencing Gave the Front Yard More Privacy
Wood fencing runs along part of the sidewalk without forming a tall wall around the property. Alternating narrow and wider boards leave gaps between the slats, screening the yard while keeping the front garden connected to the street.
Privacy was part of the plan rather than an addition made after the landscaping was finished. When a commenter pointed out that exposed front yards can feel uncomfortable to use, the homeowner confirmed that creating a usable space without sitting out in the open had influenced the design.
Trellis and Seating Gave the Former Lawn Another Job
A gravel seating area sits behind the fence with two chairs, a small table, planters, and a wood trellis. Instead of reserving the front yard for landscaping viewed from the sidewalk, part of the former lawn now functions as a place to sit.
The trellis adds another layer between the chairs and surrounding yard without closing the area off. Planting around the gravel keeps the seating zone connected to the garden rather than reading as a separate patio dropped into it.
Drip Lines Water the New Plants Instead of an Entire Lawn
Young plants spread through the mulched beds with open ground left between them for future growth. Most irrigation runs through drip lines, directing water around planted areas instead of covering the former lawn footprint.
Weeds did not disappear with the grass. The homeowner said hand pulling remained part of the maintenance, although drip irrigation appeared to concentrate weed growth rather than encourage it across the whole yard.
Paths, Plants, and Seating Now Fill the Former Lawn
From the street, the finished layout reads as several connected areas rather than one uninterrupted green surface. Gravel and pavers establish the entrance, mulch carries planting across the yard, and the fence separates the seating area without hiding it behind a solid barrier.
Grass had once been the feature connecting every part of this front yard. Removing it allowed paths, low-water plants, privacy screening, and a place to sit to divide the same ground according to how the homeowners wanted to use it.
Front Yard No Longer Depends on Grass
Viewed from the opposite end, the scale of the conversion becomes clear. Planting now extends across ground that had been lawn, while stone, gravel, mulch, fencing, and seating give different sections their own purpose.
Would you remove an established front lawn for a yard built around paths, planting, and a place to sit?
Image credits go to u/traskrogers