It looks very dry so I think that the prairie style planting is a good idea.
Other option (more colourful but also more difficult to put together and maintain well) could be a combination of drought-tolerant perennials and self-seeding annuals. This could also include some flowering evergreens like cistus, santolina or euphorbia. I can imagine a warm yellow/orange colour scheme, California poppies would go well with it too.
@Fairygirl - thanks for your further reply. Yes you're right, people do walk across it so I can see a fence helping out with that. We do have an issue where our neighbours park in a way that means they use our driveway to pull in and out. It's not really an issue until we have a visitor parking on the driveway and then we find they can only park really close to our cars, otherwise they'll block in the neighbours. This leaves the actual driveway (cobbled section) completely useless to us for parking purposes. They are moving and I have considered the idea of bringing a fence right down the left side once they move but I don't know if that'll make us look really fussy. The advantage would be we could extend the drop down curb so that each of us can park side by side and drive straight in, and then create a bit of a garden to the right section. If wildflowers are out of the question then it'd be great to have more green and colour out there. That would make it look much better but I guess it might create an annoyance with the new neighbours, who are the owners of the house so would probably be used to a similar parking set up as their tenants. I don't want to cause a nuisance to anyone but it just seems a waste to have all that space in the front and not be able to use a part of it.
@SydRoy - thanks for your reply. I do like the idea of a low level hedge along the front, instead of a fence. I was keen for hedges in the back garden (different thread) and found that it wasn't going to be practical in the space. One that did catch my eye was a honeysuckle hedge but I'm not sure if that would still flower if we kept it pretty low. We've got horse fields and lots of trees as a view across the road so it's nice to see that. But I do like the hedge idea as it could encourage more small birds in to the front "garden". I've wanted a wildflower meadow patch since we moved in to our previous house in 2012. It was our first garden and we wanted to make it in to a wildlife friendly garden, hence also being keen on native hedges. But we never quite finished the garden before deciding to move on. I envisaged this verge as finally being the answer to a wildflower area but again, it just doesn't seem practical. That's interesting on your aunt having the same type of place - we don't live near Benfleet. I call it a house but technically it's a bungalow, as I'm sure you gathered. It's quite a funny design and the layout inside is very interesting. We're embarking on a massive project with it and extending and reconfiguring most of the layout, in fact only one room will remain as it currently is! Hopefully if it all goes through next year is going to be very busy with getting it done.
@edhelka - thanks for your reply. I think definitely some kind of bright coloured prairie style might work and we really like Californian poppies. I'll look in to your suggestions of flowering evergreens too, thanks. I'm guessing lavender might also work if it's dry?
Thanks to everyone who has replied, I've now got lots of different ideas flying round thanks to all of your suggestions! I have a feeling this may mean I need to delay working on it right away, especially if we're going for the reclaiming some driveway route!
I've been doing some rough design work for the potential renovated front garden area and have come up with something that I think will work, while still allowing us to fit 3 cars on if we need to. It involves fencing right up to the pavement on both sides, extending the drop curb, getting rid of the verge and reclaiming our driveway but I think it has to be done as it allows for more space for plants. I've put plants in just to add colour as I haven't decided on anything in particular just yet other than the raised lavender and tulip planters. But I'm envisioning being able to keep the weigela and add another shrub or two and the going for perennials and bulbs, probably along the colour schemes as in the pictures.
I was just curious to see if anyone had any thoughts on the layout and whether it looks ok or whether it could work better? I was initially given the task of having to fit in 4 cars by my partner but it was too much paving and we'd hardly be using it most of the time.
I'll appreciate any thoughts on what doesn't work or what could be changed. How soon we could do this project is another question, but I think I'll be keen to get the fencing in place asap. I could start with the focus on the existing rose beds up at the house wall.
I think I would go for the same paving material over the whole area, and maybe a low picket fence along the front edge of the flower bed. Personally I would want some kind of gates so probably a narrower opening to the street, but I can see that parking would be more convenient with it left open.
Unless you're in a very low rainfall area, you might want to think about using some sort of paving that would let water drain through.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thanks @JennyJ. I did realise last night that I'd put the pathway on the most awkward side and that in reality nobody would use it. I changed it so it's next to the flowerbed. Do you reckon it works better or would you still advocate it all to be uniform paving? I realise most people just go for the whole lot block paved now rather than a separate path now but I thought it would be quite nice to have a bit of a defined pathway. That's not set in stone though.
I've had a go at adding a picket fence to the front. Is this what you were thinking of?
I don't think we could manage gates in this situation as we'd need a fair amount of room to open them with the width. I definitely want lots of good drainage and porous paving so we will make sure we explore the right kind of options. We've currently got a big puddle in the bit of driveway that slopes!
I just prefer the look of it all the same (also less cutting of slabs/blocks, so easier/possibly cheaper to install). Each to their own though. In practice I think most people will just take the easiest route to the door, wherever you mark out a "path", but it does look nicer alongside the flower bed.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thanks @JennyJ. Yes I certainly see the point about it being less hassle at least, and it also gives us the option to rearrange the parking a bit better should we need to. I think we'll probably go with that plan. I did quite like the pathway but I guess it's not necessarily as practical as I hoped. Now it's just a question of how long do we have to wait to be able to afford to get it done! I can't wait to see more colour out there though.
I would get on to the council about the dropped curb first. It won't hurt if they get that done before you start on the rest, and there might be a wait.
Round here the council says 2 to 3 weeks for them to come and do an inspection, another week or so to send you a quote, and then they'll aim to start the work within 2 months of receiving full payment. You aren't allowed to do it yourself or use your own contractor. Different councils might have different rules though.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
Thanks @JennyJ. Yes we'll be seeing our builder soon so will check with him about it as I'd quite like to get the fence in sooner if it won't affect the eventual paving work. But I think we'll get the drop curb application in this week if we can - hopefully soon to be followed by our proper planning application! It'll make it easier for builders if we have the extra drop for now too.
I'm glad I checked in on here now as we were thinking we'd have to pretty much leave it as is and just plant in that verge. But I kind of realised through the comments and replies that we've got a lot of wasted space that we could utilise much better just by adding some fence. All the other front gardens are paved with some occasional shrubs as it used to be a main road, so I'm really hoping it'll eventually add a lot of brightness and colour as you approach it. I'll have to check back in here once I've planned a planting scheme.
Posts
@SydRoy - thanks for your reply. I do like the idea of a low level hedge along the front, instead of a fence. I was keen for hedges in the back garden (different thread) and found that it wasn't going to be practical in the space. One that did catch my eye was a honeysuckle hedge but I'm not sure if that would still flower if we kept it pretty low. We've got horse fields and lots of trees as a view across the road so it's nice to see that. But I do like the hedge idea as it could encourage more small birds in to the front "garden". I've wanted a wildflower meadow patch since we moved in to our previous house in 2012. It was our first garden and we wanted to make it in to a wildlife friendly garden, hence also being keen on native hedges. But we never quite finished the garden before deciding to move on. I envisaged this verge as finally being the answer to a wildflower area but again, it just doesn't seem practical. That's interesting on your aunt having the same type of place - we don't live near Benfleet. I call it a house but technically it's a bungalow, as I'm sure you gathered. It's quite a funny design and the layout inside is very interesting. We're embarking on a massive project with it and extending and reconfiguring most of the layout, in fact only one room will remain as it currently is! Hopefully if it all goes through next year is going to be very busy with getting it done.
@edhelka - thanks for your reply. I think definitely some kind of bright coloured prairie style might work and we really like Californian poppies. I'll look in to your suggestions of flowering evergreens too, thanks. I'm guessing lavender might also work if it's dry?
Thanks to everyone who has replied, I've now got lots of different ideas flying round thanks to all of your suggestions! I have a feeling this may mean I need to delay working on it right away, especially if we're going for the reclaiming some driveway route!
Lucid
I've been doing some rough design work for the potential renovated front garden area and have come up with something that I think will work, while still allowing us to fit 3 cars on if we need to. It involves fencing right up to the pavement on both sides, extending the drop curb, getting rid of the verge and reclaiming our driveway but I think it has to be done as it allows for more space for plants. I've put plants in just to add colour as I haven't decided on anything in particular just yet other than the raised lavender and tulip planters. But I'm envisioning being able to keep the weigela and add another shrub or two and the going for perennials and bulbs, probably along the colour schemes as in the pictures.
I was just curious to see if anyone had any thoughts on the layout and whether it looks ok or whether it could work better? I was initially given the task of having to fit in 4 cars by my partner but it was too much paving and we'd hardly be using it most of the time.
I'll appreciate any thoughts on what doesn't work or what could be changed. How soon we could do this project is another question, but I think I'll be keen to get the fencing in place asap. I could start with the focus on the existing rose beds up at the house wall.
Lucid
I've had a go at adding a picket fence to the front. Is this what you were thinking of?
I don't think we could manage gates in this situation as we'd need a fair amount of room to open them with the width. I definitely want lots of good drainage and porous paving so we will make sure we explore the right kind of options. We've currently got a big puddle in the bit of driveway that slopes!
Lucid
Lucid
I'm glad I checked in on here now as we were thinking we'd have to pretty much leave it as is and just plant in that verge. But I kind of realised through the comments and replies that we've got a lot of wasted space that we could utilise much better just by adding some fence. All the other front gardens are paved with some occasional shrubs as it used to be a main road, so I'm really hoping it'll eventually add a lot of brightness and colour as you approach it. I'll have to check back in here once I've planned a planting scheme.
Lucid