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The trend to pave over front gardens is starting to get me down :(! The area I live in  was developed in the thirties with an emphasis on greenery. Now over half of all front gardens are paved over. And  I mean TOTALLY paved over. I saw two front gardens in one road getting a pave-over today. It's sad to see skips full of good topsoil, trees and bushes. I asked for the trunk of a cherry tree, to use as fire wood so at least it would not be wasted, but by the time I went back to pick it up it had already gone to the dump. I think we're the only one left  with a tree in our front garden (a magnolia). Of course front gardens need looking after, I've just pruned my tree because it was getting too big, but I'd NEVER EVER cut it down!

Oh well that's my rant for today... join me if you feel like it...

Yep tis a shame that folk would rather have somewhere to park the third car or caravan than a garden with birds in it  :(  Streets use to have leafy sounding names in the old days like Acacia Avenue.  Wonder what the trend for street names will become in future?  Sponsored by block paving companies probably, eg Marshalls Chancery etc  :(

People can't be bothered with gardens any more than they have time to cook. This a sad world we live in.  Oh well, at least us here are flying the flag.

I have a big garden and I don't do a deal in it, not this weather anyway.  It's always filled with birds though. This morning woke up to find massive heron sitting on me fence  ;D

I'm afraid that the results of this paving over are two-fold. Not only is it awful that the greenery is going but the paving also causes enormous problems with water run-off & does add to possibility of local flooding in heavy rain when previously the water would have been absorbed by front gardens. We only have tiny front gardens so at least we don't have them being paved over to park a car, but it still happens. We do have an annual front garden competition which I hope encourages a few more people to make a bit of an effort which does look so nice.

  Was an old guy in the house befor us...and told by near neighbour that
  his son worked in a cement factory.....you know what am gonna say next
  don't you....!!!!!!!

  Cos his son got discount the old bugger put it down everywhere and I
  mean everywhere...I spend as much time with a bolster and club hammer
 as I do with a fork/spade !!!!!  struth

 At my old house had a nice big area outside of gate that was nice and
 landscaped....what did the local council come along and do....yup you
 guessed it...slabbed the bloody lot !!!!!!! what happened to councils
 getting greener....!!!! grrrrrrrrrrrrr  :o :o :o >:( >:( >:( >:(

Have to admit to being one of those such people who has had to make room for a second car - we live at the end of a cul de sac and parking is at a premium, next door have 4 cars we have 2, infact now that I think about it there 8 houses in our street and 15 cars!!  Shocking :o

Although we have pebbled the front of our house to accomodate the dreaded polution machines we do still have an ornamental cherry, budlia, pyracantha, honeyuckle a huge rosemary and even bigger lavender next to the front door Oh! and  also a climbing rose :)

Saw an estate agent adsvertising a house with off street parking for 8 :o cars recently!

flippin eck Dandlion :o

I dare anyone to try and park on our front lawn...it's on a 1:1 slope.... ;D ;D ;D ;)

The position of my house prevents my putting a car at the front, and the back is all fully enclosed, but I did build a drive for one car, plus garaging (which I use everyday) for one as well. We only have one car. If someone parks across my drive, I give them a real roasting, so they are less inclined to do it again ...

Derekthefox :D

Quote from: undercarriage plan on December 12, 2005, 14:47:21
I dare anyone to try and park on our front lawn...it's on a 1:1 slope.... ;D ;D ;D ;)

And where did you find such a slope in Suffolk?

Erm...out the front of the house... ::) ::) ::) ;)
View from back......front just carries on down.....

On the subject of pave-overs and tiny gardens, I detest the trend to remove every last bit of greenery from in front of houses where they don't even have the excuse of wanting to park a car there. When I was growning up, all the terraced houses in the street had hedges in front of them, usually privet. Result? Greenery, even in a city.
Now, every last one has been grubbed up and replaced by concrete because people couldn't be bothered enough to cut them a few times a year. The small spaces that held hedges are now rubbish-collection patches of concrete  :(

Thankfully the houses up by us will never have cars parked in front because we're 50m from the road and we have to walk up a paved path. If we ever move it will be a major shock to the system as we're so used to total quiet (large noises from Hemel notwithstanding!)

moonbells

The guy across the road from me has had his garden block paved,sealed with that shiney wetlook stuff,artfully patchy I might add and capped it all off with some of those plastic posts with plastic chain railings...in white.  :'(  :'(

Prehaps more shockingly is that another neighbour not only has had his front garden blockpaved but the whole of his back garden.  It is rather awful. Strangely he has placed a single plant pot in the middle of it with what look like one or two half dead pansies.  ???  ???  I just don't get it.

Gawd that sounds horrible  :o  I wonder where his inspiration came from  :-\  Makes you wonder dunnit  :(

At the other end of the scale I did have a neighbour who placed two shocking pink plastic flamingoes on his front garden, beaks meeting, under planted it with gravel and lit the whole ensemble with coloured lighting.  Extremely tasteful  ;D  His other house was in Florida so his idea was to bring a bit of it back with him.  Hmm nice  ;D

That horrible wet-look shiney stuff over the block paving is just soooooooooooooo  up to the minute chez trendy you know - and if you've got it then you are sooooooooo much more hip then those with only block-paving ;)

You've just sooooooooo got to keep up with the Jones' you know!!!!!!!!!!

Its popping up all around us and is just completely awful :(