T
hinking about your front garden? How to keep parking off the street but without giving over your entire front garden to your car?!
There is a way forward and it’s with good design. Garden design combines the practical with the beautiful and sustainable. This means combining hard landscaping materials with plants and that includes trees!
As you know ‘SUDS’ Sustainable Drainage Systems’ is legislation now in force to ensure effective surface water drainage from our properties.
This is where considered design comes in. Garden design includes planting as well as hard landscaping, which is both beneficial to people and pollinators. Often, I see a token plant in a solitary pot placed on the block paving of what is essential a car park, to the front of a property.
Think how much more effective and beneficial to introduce small form trees and perennial planting to help maintain biodiversity literally on your doorstep, in our towns and cities.
Before you get the landscaper or builder in to block pave your drive contact me for some alternative ideas.
My portfolio of projects to date is published on my website at
www.judisamuelsgardendesign.co.uk
See also RHS webpage for further information and inspiration below:
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=738
Great idea! Let’s hope more people think before just paving over their front gardens for car parking. Leaving more plants helps the towns and cities breathe and it gives somewhere for the rain to go instead of filling up the drains.
Hi Judi,
I had the same idea, and failed to find a builder who would understand what I want. I hang on to my front garden for as long as I could, but my car parked on the street get constantly scratched. I am thinking of buying an electric car which would need to be charged front the driveway. My front garden is 10m by 5m and my plan is to preserve my roses, magnolia, rhododendron and as much loan as possible (likely not much will be left). Any ideas are welcome! Inna
Hi Inna,
I am sorry for the very late reply ~ I have only just seen your comment. Please do email me and I shall be happy to chat through some planting ideas for your front garden.
Best wishes
Judi..
http://www.judisamuelsgardendesign.co.uk