Getting down to the design…
Here are a few handy tips on what you can do to green up and improve your front garden…
1 Pick some permeable options
There are a few ways you can make sure your garden soaks up rain sufficiently, and leaves enough room for plants. Firstly, you can pave up your garden but leave room for borders under your front windows, to the sides or dotted in corners, perhaps to house a tree or two. Or you can choose gravel, brick pavers or ‘matrix’ latticed slabs. Or plant up a lawn but put slabs down over the areas you drive onto. You can also leave 5cm (2in) gaps in between slabs to help take water and also plant into.
2 Plant greenery around and under your car!
Consider the siting and soil of your front garden at all times – is it sunny, dry or exposed? Always plant with greenery that will thrive in the conditions you’ve provided, otherwise the world is your oyster. Scented herbs and other perennials will catch your nose as you arrive home – sublime! Evergreens will look good all year and colourful leaves and flowers will brighten an otherwise bare spot. It’s easy to plant up against walls and hedges and in corners where your car doesn’t ever go – but why not plant under it as well? There are a number of low creepers that will look great, up the plant count and take the strain from some tyre abuse – see page 16.
3 Make the most of all your space
You may think you’ve no space at the front of your house, but there may well be room for a container or two, or even a climber such as wisteria, a rose or clematis that can wind its way up the wall. Where there’s a fence there can be a hedge; where there are steps or a porch there can be a container and where there’s a vertical space you can pop a hanging basket, herb wall planter or a trellis for sweet peas. Even a washing line pole with good soil underneath can become a home for vibrant runner beans, sweet peas or fragrant hops.
4 Consider hedges and trees
Trees and hedges will offset poor air quality and pollution, offer good privacy screening, provide homes and food for birds and other wildlife, help drainage, improve the aesthetics of your street – the list goes on. Also, coming home to a verdant oasis you can be proud of every day has to be a good thing. Choose dwarf or slow-growing trees that you can easily keep in check, and for dense screening go for yew, box or beech. Trees are great because they remain slimline near your car, thereby taking the leafy goodness upwards and over them!
5 Grow in the ground
Containers are a great way of increasing the plant life in your garden, and can be put anywhere, but as well as pots you must try to plant into the ground wherever you can. This way water can drain well and naturally, and you can create natural gaps; access to the earth between all that hard landscaping. Ground-grown plants are easier to look after, too!