Do you have a front garden?

SailorSam

Yes

missprice wrote: »

Shame I know but no one wants to garden and round here there are fines levied for really untidy gardens, not small fines either.

Pity you feel like that MissP, i never did anything more than mow the grass before i moved here but now i'm really getting into gardening.
There's a website (can't remember the name), you can go on to try and match non-gardeners that have big gardens with people who like gardening but don't have one of their own, and who live in the same area. The gardeners then share whatever is grown with the owners of the land.

Gigervamp

SailorSam wrote: »

There's a website (can't remember the name), you can go on to try and match non-gardeners that have big gardens with people who like gardening but don't have one of their own, and who live in the same area. The gardeners then share whatever is grown with the owners of the land.

It's called Landshare.

The problem with paving over front gardens is that it leads to flooding. It also cuts down on suitable habitat for wildlife.

missprice

Yes

SailorSam wrote: »

It's a shame but lots of people find it necessary to pave over their gardens just to have somewhere to park the car. I think i'm very lucky living on a corner plot with plenty of space.

Some maybe but not all, I am paving over at the other house because my kids don't want to garden, which means I would have hundreds of sq ft to do by myself, or pay a fine if/when the garden got into a state. Fines start at 1k, it has an actual drive big enough for 5 cars already. Its just convenience to pave it to me.
I am aware its a shame but what can one person do faced with fines. I would leave it to be a wild garden but one complaint and its to court I have to go. This paving thing is cheaper too, just buy lots of weedkiller in vast quantities.:rotfl:

SailorSam wrote: »

Pity you feel like that MissP, i never did anything more than mow the grass before i moved here but now i'm really getting into gardening.
There's a website (can't remember the name), you can go on to try and match non-gardeners that have big gardens with people who like gardening but don't have one of their own, and who live in the same area. The gardeners then share whatever is grown with the owners of the land.

I am doing some gardening here but I still prefer pots and planters on a gravel bed, cos to me it looks better. And the other garden is vast and no one wanted to take it on, I did look at the site you mention, plus neighbours would tell me they would love a garden like that, so I offered them the whole thing or any part to look after, but still no one interested.

I ain't getting any younger and traveling between two houses with equipment is just too much to ask.

missprice

Yes

Gigervamp wrote: »

It's called Landshare.

The problem with paving over front gardens is that it leads to flooding. It also cuts down on suitable habitat for wildlife.

Agree with this but when the rules are adhered to so single mindedly what can we do.
I would love to just leave a garden to wildlife but the possible fine and consequent clear up which is court mandated would financially cripple me. We are all working longer hours and have less money yet we are punished for having a wildlife garden.:(

Gigervamp

I couldn't live somewhere like that. It's like those housing estates in the USA where they're not allowed to dry washing outside.

cyantist

The previous owners of our house paved over it but didn't even bother getting a dropped kerb at the same time so the horrendous driveway is pretty much useless anyway.
I'd love to change it back to how it was before but because our house is a good 10ft higher than the road level re-sculpting it would be too expensive for us.

clayton16749

Yes

We have a smallish front garden, it contains a small tree and some flowers. However when I finally persuade the wife, I'll be taking half of the garden to add to our driveway so we can have double width parking.


Nobody else in my area has bothered with dropping the kerb, so I won't be doing either.


We have a good sized back garden, attracting lots of birds and the odd squirrel.

Georgiegirl256

Yes

missprice wrote: »

I prefer plants in tubs myself, think it looks better and its way easier to "garden"

Same here. I think plants in pots (nice ones) looks a lot more decorative than a square of grass. We still have a largish garden (grass) at the back, but the front grass was more or less ripped up straight away when we moved in, it's only small and wasn't worth keeping.

I'm not a gardener by any stretch, but have been taking abit more interest lately, and now have quite a few different pots with easy to care for heather and lavender. Minimal effort, excellent results!

REEN

My front garden is full of tough shrubs that keep most of the footballs out. The birds like it like that. Gravel, no lawn, as it's a terraced house and it was a pain carting the mower through the house.

When we moved here 24 years ago there were trees in nearly all of the front gardens but most have now been removed to make parking spaces.

fairy_lights

The house I'm buying has a sort of front garden - I don't know if you could call it a garden really, It's a paved space between the house and pavement, big enough for a bench and two wheelie bins, with a very overgrown hedge separating it from the street.
The back garden is a decent size though, and after years of living in gardenless flats any outside space will be very welcome.