There are many drawbacks to parking off-road immediately in front of your house. In a road near me, a suburban street that previously had hedges studded with small trees between the end of their front gardens and the pavement has now had the majority of the hedges and trees removed to allow multiple vehicular access to the front garden.
The visual appeal of the road has nose-dived, nearly all the trees and hedges have been grubbed up. The habitats for wildlife have correspondingly plummeted. I see why it has occurred. Residents there are charged for street parking if they have more than one car.
The majority of anxiety from paving over front drives is the increase in surface area of hard-standing that is impermeable to rain. The deluges of rain flow into the street and add to run-off, which increases the likelihood of flooding.
Using hard surfaces that are permeable is far preferable, while if you can incorporate flower borders and grass which are capable of absorbing large volumes of rain – all to the good. In the UK we are slowly realising that there are many types of paving, tarmac, setts, resin-bonded gravel and even unit paving slabs that are designed to be permeable. While working in Japan more than 25 years ago, my Japanese clients were amazed that I had not heard of permeable tarmac, which is ubiquitous there.
If you do have to park in your front garden, it is quite possible to have parking spaces designed so only certain parts for the wheels are paved (with a permeable paving or gravel and hopefully incorporating areas that can be planted).
Self-seeding plants that thrive in gravel (Verbascum Polar Sommer, Verbena bonariensis, Euphorbia myrsinetes and the like) can help keep the space interesting, softer and greener – and if the odd plant is trodden on/run over, another plant usually self seeds elsewhere to replace.
Then add a few small trees in baseless pots (no maintenance needed after the first few months) to get greenery at eye level, to help screen intruding looks from passers-by, to frame and flatter your home and of course provide extra housing for wildlife.
Please don’t simply spread a load of concrete but make sure your “front of house” looks its very best and does not exclude our native fauna that are becoming far more pressed for accommodation than we are.
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