This is the (very weedy) front of my Victorian terrace house. The back is not suitable for much growing. The front is south facing. I hate the slate and want to change it either way. Do you think it would be possible to grow some (food) things here?
My current main concerns are ground quality and whether I can have an effect on that, and local cats/foxes pooing/weeing there.
by BeddyBedmond
18 Comments
Brilliant idea!
Definitely not crazy, I say go for it! You will probably need to amend the soil with a lot of organic matter, but I see no reason why it can’t work. Another option is to build some raised beds, which can make things a lot easier to manage. There is loads you can do in a small space, and you could look into the food forest concept, which could allow you to grow lots of different things in that space.
Don’t worry about trying to get everything right first time, or if some things don’t work out, gardening is trial and error, experiment with different plants and ways of planting and see how you get on.
I have a friend who did similar with raised beds. Looks good
You certainly can grow stuff here but will just need a bit of elbow grease, probably a skip and a load of organic matter depending what you find under that slate. To be honest anything would be an improvement.
And cats and foxes can get into real allotments too so wouldn’t worry about that.
Go for raised beds. You could scrape around under the gravel to see but chances are high you don’t have any good soil of any depth so you’d be better off with a couple of raised beds. My friend built some at the tail of last summer in a similar gravel patch (yours is actually nicer than hers as you at least got the pretty slate) and it’s now ready for the veg!
Not at all! IIRC have actually been a couple of examples on Gardeners’ world recently. If you’re worried about soil quality, you could always go for raised beds.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DHbcLe0M8jj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Unfortunately you have to consider people stealing stuff. An alternate live is to plant herbs and g ch rockery plants
Check out Spicy Moustache on YouTube. He grows tonnes of veg in a similar sized front garden in London.
Raised beds and a screen of some kind at the front (dead hedge, maybe) to help deter those with light fingers.
Depends where you live.
If you live in a nice area you’ll probably be fine.
If you live in a shitty area you’ll have gangs of delinquents fucking about with it for no reason. People’s dogs digging it up. That sort of thing.
I say just go for it looks like a nice sunny spot.
Go for it. Raised beds and maybe some plastic (or wood and glass, if you’re fancy) raised bed covers to protect from passers by
Looks like a perfect spot in terms of aspect, I’d think about putting up a low fence along the front and down the side of your neighbour just to delineate/protect the space from thieving – you can go up to 1m height along the road.
Practical considerations –
Yes raised beds probably best and save you the extended headache trying to sort whatever poor soil is probably lurking under there. You could even keep the most of slate for pathways between the beds, could look pretty nice. Raised beds are an initial investment (of time +/- money) but means you get to 100% control what you’re growing in and know it’s good stuff.
Storage for tools and stuff – you could get a little lockable storage box out front or keep stuff somewhere handy in the house and just bring it out as needed.
And access to water – you can get hose attachments for normal kitchen/bathroom taps and run the hose out of the window, I used to do that in a previous flat. Or fill up a 5L pressure sprayer in the house and carry it out. Long term attach a water butt to the guttering, +/- have a proper outdoor tap fitted.
Not at all. Cultivating nature is always a good idea.
Of course you can! It may help to have a bit more of a fence though, unless you live in the sort of area no-one will consider pinching stuff.
Scrape the slate away- you can give it away easy, if you bag it up you’d maybe even be able to sell it if you could be bothered. You may be able to plant some stuff in the ground, but raised beds are a great option and may help deter foxes. You’re not going to be able to produce lots, so I’d focus more on stuff you only want a little of- like herbs- very productive plants, like courgettes or summer squash, runner beans, and plants that are both edible and decorative, like nasturtiums, chard and frilly kale with some minor salad stuff shoved in gaps.
100% worth a go. Maybe have mint and rosemary at the boundary and encourage people to take some? Some very gappy loose netting should discourage cats.
Certainly possible! I wouldn’t worry too much about cats and foxes, they’re on allotments too and you can drape covers propped on sticks over anything tender if needed.
What Id do if I were you is leave some of the gravel in a smallish circle in the centre, plus a strip between the circle and your walkway. Then remove all the gravel from the area outside that central circle. It’ll probably have some sort of membrane underneath which can be cut with a knife. Then you can get some bagged compost and put it round the edges. And you’ll have a non muddy area to walk on from which you can reach into the growing area and it’ll be cheaper and easier than raised beds and removing every last bit of gravel.
Raised beds with netting?