Back to the front garden

Front gardens are undoubtedly a collective eyesore on many streets in London. They are have been downgraded to become unloved and functional places people park a car, store bikes and utilise precious (expensive) space for the much-needed multiplicity of recycling containers. That’s why it’s such a sad state this so-called ‘nation of gardeners’ have let their front gardens get into. Nearly  1 in 4 gardens are paved over to have more utilitarian uses. I understand this completely given high population density spaces we find ourselves in. All space is at a premium. However there are ways of having parking and plants – horticulture that brings us not just an aesthetic cheer, but also supports wildlife and pollinating species. That’s why the RHS Greening Grey Britain campaign really gets to the heart of the problem and gives inspiration to help us all green up our streets. 

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My own front garden was no exception – when we moved in it was an unloved 3 x 2 meter plot of ripped plastic lining and old stones, weeds and paving slabs.  2 years later, the house redecorated and back garden restored, but the front garden had only been stripped back as far as removing the stones to a bare patch of earth – albeit with its own permanent population of dandelions. Hardly the nature reserve we wanted!

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But with a bit of planning and graft we’ve transformed the space – all for less than £400 on materials and plants.  We started with a few basic ‘back of a fag-packet’ plans and wish lists for the look and plant types – the challenge will always be the outlook as its north east facing – gets 3+ hours of early morning sun from May onwards but will be in total shade in the winter months. Finally deciding on one large planted section, and pots that can change with seasonal interest.

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The main investments were the weed lining, shingle and path edging – as well as hardy plants such as an acer palmatum, cotoneaster ‘Coral Beauty’, as well as a  couple of low growing evergreens and a sambucus nigra. All of these will be maintained and kept neat (hopefully). I’ve planted in cosmos and red new guinea impatiens for colour. By a stroke of bad luck (or labelling mishap) the red cosmos all turned out to be deep pink – so we have a kind of brave colour scheme in the front – but hey it’s bright and bold, without any concrete grey in sight!

The pots were all painted blue with spray paint for that overall Grecian appeal. I also arranged a hanging basket with bright blue and purple lobelia, intermingled with highly scented petunias. There are three terracotta wall pots with a mix of the impatiens, lobelia and orange trailing begonias too.

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Now in early August it is really coming into its own and filling out the space with flowers attracting playful bees and butterflies.

The perfect thing has been that the front seems to have escaped the overwhelming invasion of slugs and snails currently wreaking havoc across the veg beds out back. But with time I’m sure they’ll discover it soon. It really has made a positive impact on how we see the house, as well as providing a little cheer for the street. I met at least three neighbours on the weekend we planted it – faces I’d seen but never spoken to in the years we’ve lived here. It’s true – plant something colourful and it’s not just for your benefit, the world wants to say hello and enjoy it too.

If you ever needed an excuse to get outside and bring some cheer to your street, join in, read this for inspiration and get Greening Grey Britain!