Eglantyne, Your most likely right easier for them but not others. Another lady moved in last year and said she wont use her drive as it's not wide enough. Not wide enough if she parked one her drive and opened both side doors she'd still have plenty of room. When you have an ambulance crew having to carry someone down the street due to not being able to get close enough you start to worry, what if there was a fire.
With regards to concrete/tarmac, I believe you now need planning permission to use impermeable surfacing over a certain area size over a front garden. You can get plastic grids that you can can fill with gravel or that you can have grass grow through if it is used lightly. These things are becoming more available and entering public consciousness a bit more. Unfortunately I don't think there are any such rules for rear gardens.
B3, years ago I can remember my father and grandfather growing fruit and veg in the front garden. A lady round the corner from us does just that, she grows all her fruit in her front garden.
Most garages built more than 10 years ago are too small for modern cars, which are huge. I expect the family with 5 cars don't like having to all go out and reverse out of the drive if the one who gets home first also goes out first. Remember Butterflies?
I have dogs and I walk them every day. This tends to mean I explore side streets and public footpaths through towns quite a lot (you get bored walking the same circuit every day so "I wonder where that goes" kicks in quite a lot). I am entirely used now to the general rule that most people I meet while I'm walking the dogs are either elderly or are also walking dogs. No one else walks down the footpath by the church, or the cut through by the housing estate. We walk around new build estates a lot - there are a lot of them. Front gardens tend to be very narrow strips of standard shrubs that are clearly rarely visited by the people living in the houses, who presumably drive into their car ports/garages/driveways beside the house and go in the back door.
I am always enchanted by the few that have made an effort. It makes life so much more interesting.
It is a frequent complaint by OH that all of these developments are dominated by cars - garages or parking always occupy the bulk of the frontage. The community suffers as a result. Not being able to park in front of your house is extremely inconvenient but it makes you talk to your neighbours, or to at least recognise them. We used to live in a Cotswold village that predated cars by a couple of millennia. Very inconvenient, very pretty and very strong community.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
There would still be something nice for you to look at in my “car park”, which I assume is your problem. My back garden is much nicer and that’s where most of my effort will go. Better tarmac than an overgrown lawn?
Nope. Better overgrown lawn than tarmac - much better. It's nothing to do with snobbery about how it looks.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
Front gardens are a new idea, really. 20th Century in lower status housing - a little further back in posher houses. Better a larger back garden so there's more room to keep the pig/chickens/pigeons and/or to grow some veg.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
raisingirl, if they decided to park on their drive they have plenty of room for, four to park side by side and then yes one of the five would have to either block one in or park in the road. This is the best part most of the car which are new hardly ever get used. One is a BMW the rest are small cars like Corsa's or smaller. Why have so many cars and not use them.
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I have dogs and I walk them every day. This tends to mean I explore side streets and public footpaths through towns quite a lot (you get bored walking the same circuit every day so "I wonder where that goes" kicks in quite a lot). I am entirely used now to the general rule that most people I meet while I'm walking the dogs are either elderly or are also walking dogs. No one else walks down the footpath by the church, or the cut through by the housing estate. We walk around new build estates a lot - there are a lot of them. Front gardens tend to be very narrow strips of standard shrubs that are clearly rarely visited by the people living in the houses, who presumably drive into their car ports/garages/driveways beside the house and go in the back door.
I am always enchanted by the few that have made an effort. It makes life so much more interesting.
It is a frequent complaint by OH that all of these developments are dominated by cars - garages or parking always occupy the bulk of the frontage. The community suffers as a result. Not being able to park in front of your house is extremely inconvenient but it makes you talk to your neighbours, or to at least recognise them. We used to live in a Cotswold village that predated cars by a couple of millennia. Very inconvenient, very pretty and very strong community.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”