LivingGreen Gardening
LivingGreen can give design and planting advice as well as carrying out the work to ensure that your front garden does not contribute towards flooding risk and that it remains a green oasis, even if it doubles as a car park!
It is said that climate change will bring an increased risk of flooding, and that changes in land surface use are adding to this risk, with gardens playing an important role. More and more front gardens have been paved over, often to provide off-road parking and this can increase the amount of water running off by up to 50% compared with a planted surface. This additional water usually flows into street drains, which cannot always cope in storm conditions.
The paving over of front gardens has other impacts on climate change and the living environment. The removal of vegetation means that less carbon dioxide, pollutants and dust are absorbed and that less oxygen is released into the atmosphere. Less vegetation means fewer habitats for insects and birds. Plants also moderate temperatures whereas hard surfaces absorb heat during the day and release it at night - part of the 'urban heat island' effect. Associated with the paving of front gardens for car parking is the construction of dropped kerbs, which often entails the removal of grass verges and street trees.
Hard paving may also cause subsidence by stopping rainfall getting into the soil directly beneath it. If the soil is of a heavy clay type it may then sink, sometimes causing cracking in paths and walls. Planted front gardens, in contrast, reduce this risk whilst providing visual interest and screening, as well as all the environmental benefits.
Given that many front gardens are used as car parks, how is it possible to minimise the adverse effects of hard surfacing? One option is to use permeable pavers, which have the appearance of traditional block paving but with interlocking shape and gaps to allow more surface water to penetrate. The cheapest permeable hard landscaping option however is gravel, available from local quarries as pea shingle and coarser grades. Garden centres also stock a range of gravels of various colours, though these work out considerably more expensive.
If the garden is small, the best option may be to construct two tracks to take the car wheels. These could be of concrete, or of brickweave or paving slabs, laid on a compacted hardcore foundation. Paving slabs should always be of the heavy duty type to support the weight of a car without cracking. The rest of the garden can then be covered with landscape fabric to suppress weeds and then topped with gravel. By raking back the gravel and cutting the fabric, planting can take place through this surface.
In all cases there is scope for greenery. Climbing plants can be grown against vertical surfaces. Ivies will tolerate the most shady situations and, unlike most climbers, do not require trellis or wires for support. Good choices for sunnier walls include jasmine, climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris), honeysuckle (Lonicera) and clematis, of which there are many varieties. Parthenocissus (the Boston ivy) and some ornamental grape vine varieties can be grown for their autumn foliage interest, while the winter jasmine, though not a true climber, is another favourite. Grown against walls, it provides brilliant colour during the very earliest part of the year.
Another possibility is ground cover plants. Some low growing plants will tolerate being parked over if the vehicle is moved regularly. These include bugle (Ajuga reptans), creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) and various thyme species. Elsewhere plants can be planted through landscape fabric, as described above, and allowed to spill over the gravel surface. Shrubs and herbaceous plants can be grown in areas of dead space, while pots and other moveable containers may be made use of. Planted out with bedding plants such as nicotiana in late spring, they give colour until September when they can then be replanted with winter pansies. For year round structure and greenery, evergreen shrubs may be grown in pots, always ensuring that there is sufficient space for root development. As with all pot grown plants, these should be watered regularly in warm weather to prevent drying out.
Finally, if your lawn is parked on occasionally, there are a number of grass reinforcement products which allow the surface to be driven over without it turning into mud. These are made of either concrete (Grassguard) or heavy duty plastic (e.g. Netpave) and cost £22.00 and £16.50 per square metre respectively.
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