15+ Tasteful Circular Driveway Landscaping for a Formal Grand Entry

Did you know that one of the most utilized and useful pieces of your property is actually the thing that’s usually under-utilized when it comes to design?

Yes, I’m talking about the driveway.

Your driveway is meant to add an element of both aesthetic curb and functionality to your home. A popular trend these days for many reasons is building a circular driveway landscape as a formal grand entry into your house.

Apart from being aesthetic and formal, a circular driveway landscape is a safe solution for homes situated on busier streets.

Instead of having to back up into traffic, your circular driveway landscape will enable you to be more flexible when entering and leaving your house.

And for the formal appearance, circular driveway landscaping is a perfect solution too. It delivers a more elegant look and creates a large focus on your house’s entry.

Stanchions or piers are usually used at the exit or entrance of the circular driveway landscaping on both ends to highlight the formal layout.

Another advantage of building a circular driveway landscaping is the freedom that comes along with it.

Depending on the size of your front yard, you can incorporate a mini garden or even a courtyard in the center of the driveway.

Well, practically, your options are endless. The main thing is that creating a roundabout for driving will boost your house’s resale value.

If you want to get more inspiration about what thing to add in the center of your circular driveway landscaping and what material it should be, here are some tasteful pictures that you can recreate:

1. Gray Concrete Circular Driveway with a Brightly Colored Landscape in the Center

This traditional wood exterior home looks perfect paired with the gray concrete circular driveway.

Thanks to the large concrete slab, the circular driveway looks polished, smooth, and even.

There’s a dark-colored edging in the outer and inner part of the driveway, adding more dimension because it contrasts the entire driveway.

The focal point is, of course, the round landscape in the center of the driveway. It seems that the ground is covered with mulch, and it is used as a planter bed.

The most intriguing part is the red blossoms in the perimeter of the landscape, creating a brightly colored border for the landscape in the center.

See how the bright red flowers add a splash of color to the traditional neutral color scheme around. This is a clever way to incorporate bright color in a traditional setting without making it too flashy.

Right in the middle of the landscaping, the homeowners planted a small tree surrounded by a kind of tall grass plant in the inner layer of the circle.

Planting a tree in the center of the landscape is one of the simple ways to create a fresh and natural look to your courtyard and driveway.

2. Three-tier Renaissance Fountain Landscaping in a Brick Circular Driveway

This circular driveway is made of brick that totally goes perfectly with the stone in the house exterior.

A brick driveway is one of the best materials that you should opt for if you want to pair it with the traditional style of the property. Even though brick is basically a timeless piece, it’s often associated with traditional styles.

This brick in this circular driveway looks a lot like a paver block because it is gray instead of reddish-brown. It means that you can use a paver block as an alternative if the brick is not your thing.

The edging of this driveway is also made of brick that’s lain differently. It indicates that the homeowners prefer not to attract too much attention from the edging.

That’s because the most attractive element in this circular driveway landscaping is the three-tier renaissance fountain.

Since the landscaping area is not that large and the fountain itself is considerably huge, so it takes up most space of it. There’s nothing left for anything except for the small planter around the fountain to accentuate it.

A fountain in the landscape is actually an expensive option. However, if your budget is not tight, it’s recommended to use this kind of water feature to decorate your circular driveway landscape to showcase the classic look.

3. A Majestic Tree as the Focal Point in a Circular Driveway Landscaping

If greeneries and evergreens look is what you aimed for in the first place, it means you don’t need to plant such extravagant plants to accentuate your circular driveway landscaping.

This landscape, for instance, looks simple, yet it’s still stunning in its own way. Unlike the previous pictures with colorful blossoms or expensive elements, this circular landscape looks fresh and natural.

In order to match the lawn landscaping in the surrounding, the homeowners planted neatly mown grass as a ground cover. Right in the center of it, there’s a majestic tree with deep red leaves that stand tall elegantly.

Around the tree, there’s a pink leafed planted to accentuate the greeneries around.

Having a deep red-leafed tree as a focal point of lawn landscaping is a subtle and natural way to add a pop of color. See how the tree even matches the house’s exterior, which was also painted in a deep red shade.

Around the circular driveway, the neatly mown grass spreads throughout the yard, complete with bushes, shrubs, and small trees, a green canvas for the focal point.

This is a great look to recreate if you have a spacious front yard to start it with.

4. Beige-colored Stone to Frame the Planter Bed Landscaping in a Circular Driveway

If you want to create an elegant circular driveway landscaping, it means that you have to be ready to splurge because most of the time, the good thing comes with a price.

This landscape is the ideal example. See how the poured concrete driveway with block edging serves as a frame for the landscaping in the center.

As a focal point of a luxurious classic house, the landscaping is completed with a beige-colored stone that acts as a beautiful planter for the shrubs and bushes inside.

It is a custom-designed and custom-made stone that is meant to match the stucco exterior wall of the house.

In the outer part of the circular stone planter, the homeowners also planted grass to fill the space between the concrete and the stone. It marks the area where the driveway ends and the landscaping starts.

Generally, this is a simple look. With such stone as a frame, you don’t need to plant exotic plants or other attractive decorative items to liven up your landscaping.

The simplicity is what makes this circular landscape looks stunning and luxurious. Let the stone shine in its own way.

5. Round Water Features as a Focal Point in a Circular Driveway Landscaping

Basically, this is a craftsman exterior house, with a lot of characteristics of arts and crafts. However, the landscape represents a tropical style a lot.

Look at those palm and banana trees on the perimeter of the circular driveway. They make an excellent accent for the craftsman’s house and at the same time provide shade because it appears that this house is situated in a hotter area.

In the center of the circular driveway, that small round space that’s meant to be a landscape, is filled with a round water feature made of stone. It is a pond with smaller fountains, a lovely accent for the tropical setting.

It is as if this landscape was an oasis to the drought-tolerant plants around.

Around the water feature, there’s a round drain that is both functional and aesthetic. It is basically a drain, but it beautifully frames the water feature.

This round drain is framed by an elevated concrete that looks similar to the driveway’s material.

This is a professional job because it takes a lot of calculations and measurements as well technical details.

It’s recommended to hire a skillful landscaper to do the job for you because it surely isn’t a DIY project that can be done on the weekend.

6. Greeneries and Lawn Landscaping in the Center of a Circular Driveway

You can always rely on greeneries and lawn for your landscape if you don’t know what to add in the center of your circular driveway, and money is a bit of an issue.

There are many options of affordable bushes, perennials, annuals, and shrubs that you can pair with some blossoming plants to accentuate them.

See how neat this lawn landscaping is. There’s no visible edge to separate the landscape and the circular driveway, but that doesn’t make the grass stray from the driveway.

The lack of edging in this landscape enhances the natural look and makes the entire area look more seamless. Plus, the green grass beautifully contrasts the pea gravel driveway.

In the inner corner of the landscape, the homeowners also set round setting bushes that were neatly trimmed to create an even height, so they could pleasantly frame the plant in the center.

In the center, there’s a white blossomed plant that is supposed to naturally brighten up the entire greeneries and lawn.

See how this circular driveway landscaping matches the lawn landscaping around the driveway. It creates cohesion in the front yard.

7. Mix Colored Concrete Driveway with a Fountain Landscaping

This is an elegant and gracious house that embraces the charm of the traditional setting. Look at the grand stairs in the entrance that leads to the front door.

To match the elegant stairs, there’s a circular driveway landscaping dominated by a fountain made of stone.

The round stone fountain looks simple with a lack of ornate and decorative items. But that’s perfect for a traditional style.

No tier, no splash of color, no additional texture, this fountain is suitable for you who always appreciate the minimalist style.

Surrounding the fountain, there are identical neatly-trimmed bushes planted on the mulch. These bushes are also considered a simple frame for the refined fountain. They accentuate the white fountain and, at the same time, contrast it too.

On the other hand, the circular driveway also serves as a large frame for the landscape. This driveway is made of mixed-colored concrete.

The darker-colored concrete is paired with the lighter one that is used as a trim. The light-colored trim mixes harmoniously with the fountain, creating a visually balanced look.

This idea is suitable for you if you want to incorporate a water feature in your circular driveway landscaping, but you don’t want to deal with the tiered and large fountain due to the lack of space.

8. Asphalt Circular Driveway Edged with Paver and an Evergreen Landscaping as a Center Point

This is another simple idea to incorporate landscaping in your circular driveway.

Compared to many pictures before, this one is considerably smaller. But a limited space shouldn’t inhibit you from building a focal point in your driveway.

In order to balance the small circular driveway, the round landscape is also small. Yet, it still steals attention with the lovely and fresh evergreens.

It seems that there’s a combination of small bushes, grass, and a small tree in the landscape.

The landscaper installed a white paver to prettily frame this landscape as an edging. It is the same with the edge on the perimeter of the asphalt circular driveway.

It’s obvious that the landscaper wanted to add more dimension to this driveway by adding a contrast to the dark gray asphalt and the edging.

This driveway and the center point are surrounded by a lawn landscape completed with trees and bushes.

Actually, it’s not that hard to imitate this look. You don’t have to exactly mimic this. The main point is planting evergreens without a towering tree in the center of the circular driveway. You can choose any plant you like and pair it with an accent in the center.

Don’t forget the contrasting trim to complete the whole look.

9. Small Shrubs are Landscaped in a Gravel Circular Driveway

This is a perfect example of a large timeless driveway and landscaping in the front yard of a traditional house. It appears that this circular driveway is made of gravel.

Basically, gravel is not a popular option for a driveway because it tends to stray and jump to other areas when they’re being driven on.

Yet, we can’t deny the soothing crunchy sound it produces when the vehicles are on it, and that’s what makes people opt for gravel for their driveways.

In the center, the round landscaping looks minimalist, with small shrubs planted in the middle and framed by a round grass. The entire landscape is also completed with a stone edging that contrasts the gravel and the greens of the shrubs.

Gravel in a soft brown color like this is a recommended material to create a desert-like landscape. Gravel can be used both for a landscape and a driveway due to its versatility.

If you want to create a drought-tolerant landscape, this is the look that you should recreate.

Except for the gravel, you can actually design the landscape on your own. You just need neatly mown grass and shrubs to be planted in the center.

10. Desert Landscaping is Edged by Travertine in a Circular Driveway

Want to add a bit of elegance to your desert circular driveway landscaping? You can copy this look.

The designer managed to elevate the look by adding a travertine edge around the landscape.

Even though this has no gravel like the previous picture, this landscape still looks drought-tolerant.

Well, basically, this is quite the opposite of the previous one, which has a desert-like driveway with gravel.

In this case, the landscape imitates the desert, while the circular driveway is more modern with the sleek and smooth appearance of a concrete slab.

The landscape in the center appears to have mulch as a ground cover, an element that is frequently used to create desert-like landscaping.

Since it’s the desert that the owners intended to mimic, you won’t see any shrubs or thick bushes here. Instead, there are only some drought-tolerant plants that you usually find in a desert.

It’s easy to recreate this look. There are many options of desert plants out there that you can choose from. Plant them at a distance from each other to avoid the look of thick brush, which is totally not a desert lookalike.

As a decoration, you can add some boulders or rocks around.

11. Mediterranean Landscaping with Carved Natural Stone Lion Fountain in a Circular Driveway

It’s not only traditional styles that usually have an elegant fountain as part of their elements, but also Mediterranean styles.

This luxurious house features a lovely Mediterranean design represented by its circular driveway landscaping.

The circular driveway seems to be made of pavers blocks combined with concrete blocks as the trim. Both create a contrasting look that accentuates the stucco wall of the property.

You won’t see any landscape in the middle of the driveway but a refined fountain that definitely elevates the whole area.

This is a lovely carved natural stone lion fountain in two tiers. This fountain is positioned as a focal point of this mansion’s driveway. It is surrounded by unique hand-carved details completed by 8 planters on top of it.

The planters have small trees in each of them, and they are meant to compensate for the lack of landscaping here.

So, even though the fountain takes up all of the space in the center of the driveway, it still has plants to add a fresh look to the centerpiece.

What an elegant way to decorate your circular driveway.

12. Simple Circular Lawn Landscaping in the Center of a Driveway

If you don’t want to deal with the fuss of planting shrubs, perennials, or other plants, the best way to fill the area in your circular driveway landscaping is by using grass.

This is the best type of ground cover to keep everything fresh and natural.

No need to add any plants to the grass. Let the grass stay as it is; just make sure you regularly trim it to keep its shape.

Since it is the grass that we’re talking about, you need to take care of it on a daily basis. It needs water and fertilizer to keep the excellent condition, but it’s all worth the effort because you’ll have a simple yet stunning circular driveway landscaping.

Using grass in this landscape is perfect if you have a lawn around the driveway. It will look as if this round driveway is the extension of the grass surrounding the driveway.

Let the towering trees grow on the bigger lawn to provide shade for the house while keeping the landscape in the middle clean, even from any decorative item or edge. It’s the simple look that you want to achieve.

13. Planting Trees as a Center Landscaping of a Red Brick Paver Circular Driveway

This is the opposite look of the previous picture.

Before, the landscape should be plant-free. In this picture, the circular driveway landscaping is used as a planter bed. And the homeowners didn’t just plant shrubs or bushes in this area. They planted huge and towering trees even though the planter looked small compared to these trees.

It seems that the homeowners intended to create a balanced look for the surrounding area around the main house. Around, trees are also planted in the bare soil, similar to this landscaping, without any ground cover.

It also appears that the trees were planted rather randomly instead of following a structure. But that’s what makes it look more natural.

Even though the neatly trimmed shrubs planted in a circular line are beautiful, they lack a natural look because nature grows more freely without following the ground lines.

In order to accentuate the trees, some smaller plants are added. These smaller plants are used to fill the space between each tree, so this circular driveway landscaping looks fuller.

There is some garden lighting installed, too. A great way to highlight the whole area at night.

14. Colorful Flowering Plants Around a Whimsical Decoration in a Circular Driveway Landscaping

If you always like an anti-mainstream look with whimsical decorations or pieces of art, you can recreate this look.

This circular driveway landscaping has a black round ball that looks a lot like a bomb on a metal structure. It is indeed a dramatic way to attract attention because this piece works better than any kind of fountain to draw attention.

The landscaping is just set to accentuate this huge decorative item and to make it even more prominent. It is surrounded by colorful flowering plants that surely add a splash of color to the circular concrete driveway around.

This round landscape is bordered by stone blocks that also act as a frame.

Look how the colorful flowering plants match the same plants in front of the garage doors. It seems that they are all both the same type of plant but with different flower colors.

The key element in this landscaping is cohesion.

If you want to remodel your landscape like this, the basic rule is you have to have an extravagant decorative item to be displayed here.

After that, it should be framed by the colorful plants that should match the plants on the perimeter of your house.

15. Small Circular Driveway Landscaping with a Sugar Kettle Fountain

Who said that a small circular driveway landscaping can’t be attractive?

This one is proof that size doesn’t matter. You don’t have to have large landscaping to create something elegant like this. In fact, small-sized landscaping in the center of a circular driveway will make your driveway look more prominent.

The driveway itself is also small, and seemingly it is made of gravel in gray color. Gray gravel will surely contrast the lawn or other greeneries you add around.

The small landscaping only consists of bare soil without any ground cover and some smaller plants.

Yet, the most striking element is positioned in the center of it. It is a sugar kettle fountain.

This is another proof that you don’t need a large area to incorporate a water feature. Water features are usually associated with large, elegant, and dramatic landscaping. But this one is quite different.

The small fountain still does its job by producing a soothing sound of water, but not extravagantly like other fountains you’ve seen before.

It’s practically effortless if you want to recreate this look. You have to install a sugar kettle fountain in the center of your circular driveway landscaping and surround it with smaller plants to accentuate it.

There’s no basic rule about the plant. You are free to choose any kind of smaller plants and how to plant them around the fountain.

16. Rock Landscaping to Complete the Circular Driveway

Sometimes, plants can be exhausting to deal with. You have to maintain them regularly to make sure they stay in shape. That’s one of the reasons why people turn to rock landscaping.

In rock landscaping, you can incorporate a minimal amount of plants, even no plants, in your area. All you have to do is just fill the ground with some kinds of rocks, pebbles, and boulders.

In this circular driveway landscaping, the plants are also used to frame the stones.

There are small shrubs next to the pebbles edging to create a green contrast to the all-stone look. But in the middle of it, the center area that’s meant to be a focal point, the landscaper put three tall boulders that were set artistically.

These boulders are surrounded by smaller boulders as a wall that encircles them. Inside the circle, small rocks are spread around.

We can see that these tall boulders are actually water fountains. It’s a rustic-style fountain with water spraying softly at the top of it and creating a pond below.

What a serene way to incorporate a fountain and rock landscaping at the same time.

However, this is quite a challenging project.

You need to hire a professional to deal with the draining system that should be installed below the rocks and soil.

It’s because boulders can’t absorb water, so you need help to make sure the water circulates in the right way to create a fountain.

17. How to Landscape a Circular Driveway

Now you know that circular driveway landscaping could let you drive in and out of the house more freely. It also creates an open area inside the driveway that you can use for landscaping.

The outer edge of the driveway is meant to complement the landscaping.

For safety reasons, many homeowners prefer their landscape to be low to the ground so their view won’t be blocked. But, that’s not usually the case for you.

Make sure your landscaping fits in with the general style of the house to create cohesion.

Here’s how to landscape a circular driveway, though:

1. Lay a block or stone path across the inner driveway to give access to the house from the road.
2. Put a focal point in the inner circular center inside the driveway. You can set up a set of boulders, large planters, a line of potted plants, or a small fountain here. Anything that you think will attract attention will do. You can discuss the options with your landscaper.
3. To accentuate the focal point, you can plant annuals, perennials, or shrubs around it. Opt for a mix of plants that bloom at a different time of the year, so your driveway area stays colorful and/or green. Colorful flowers will make the best edging, while evergreens will add a more natural and fresh look.
4. Install the landscape edging along the planting bed by measuring a narrow part around 1-2 feet wide along the driveway’s outer edge. You can plant shrubs, bushes, or small trees that grow no more than 2 feet tall as an edging. This is perfect for you who don’t like your views blocked in the driveway. Fill in the spaces between the small planters with short blossoming plants.
5. Don’t forget to install the landscape lighting around your circular driveway. These lightings will prettily accent your circular driveway landscaping while at the same time providing safety driving too on the evening.