A stunning front garden!
By Fleur
@Fleura (30985)
United Kingdom
May 22, 2023 4:13pm CST
I was driving through the outskirts of a town the other day when this garden caught my eye and it was so stunning I had to stop and walk back to take a photo.
As it turned out the owners (late middle-aged couple I suppose they would be described as) were outside and when I complimented them on their garden and asked if I could take a photo they were happy to chat and showed me a picture of the blank patch of short dry turf they had started with, only 18 months ago!
Sadly the photo really doesn’t do the garden justice as there was so much crammed in there I just couldn’t get it all in at once.
It was certainly an amazing transformation, and all the more so because nowadays so many front gardens are being converted into paved or tarmacked parking spaces, to the detriment of the local environment for so many reasons.
Hard surfaces don’t soak up water, so heavy rain (predicted to become more frequent) runs off, increasing the risk of flash flooding and polluting rivers and seas. Growing plants naturally soak up water and slow up its flow so drainage systems are not overwhelmed.
Tarmac and bricks absorb the sun’s heat, radiating it back into the local environment and creating the heat island effect of urban areas. Tall plants provide shade, and by the process of transpiration all plants actively cool their local environment.
Barren open spaces offer no protection against pollution from noise or airborne exhaust particles. Shrubs and hedges trap particulates and buffer noise.
Obviously a hard-surfaced yard offers fewer resources for local wildlife compared to a flourishing garden.
And last but definitely not least, walking along a street lined with shady trees and decorated with attractive and varied gardens is so much nicer (and, it has been proven, better for mental health, that buzz-word of the moment) than walking along a bare street with nothing but bricks, tarmac and concrete all around.
So what can we do to encourage people to choose the better option?
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2023.
14 people like this
14 responses
@Tampa_girl7 (51301)
• United States
22 May 23
I like their home too. I wonder if the roof is solar panels ?
2 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (48403)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
23 May 23
I had a front yard like that in Hamilton. Unfortunately, it now is back to grass.
2 people like this
@AmbiePam (95850)
• United States
22 May 23
It looks absolutely beautiful! If my dad's wife had her way, she'd go house to house, working on the gardens of anyone who wanted help in her neighborhood. I think about three other people in her area care about gardens like she does.
But rarely does anyone show care like that to the front garden like your picture.
2 people like this
@allknowing (140327)
• India
23 May 23
We have a huge space for the front garden and it has a few paths and a lot of greenery
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (140785)
• United States
22 May 23
A yard facing the street that looks like that one wouldn't be allowed here. The city would give one warning and then charge the couple $400 after the city mowed it all to comply with their standards/ordnances. You can do anything you want with your back yard here as long as the neighbors don't complain.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (140785)
• United States
23 May 23
@Fleura You're correct, paving over your yard isn't allowed here. But, there's nothing that says your yard must be green here, either. One of my brothers killed everything in his yard, including grass when he received a warning that the city was going to charge him $400 if he didn't mow the calf-high grass in his yard. (Nobody complained when he sprayed his entire yard with diesel fuel. The neighbors thought he was spraying to kill the weeds. 
)
)1 person likes this
@Fleura (30985)
• United Kingdom
23 May 23
@DaddyEvil So does nothing grow there now? If he comes to sell, would that be considered contaminated land?
1 person likes this
@marguicha (224880)
• Chile
22 May 23
I love gardens and I used to garden a lot when I was in better health. Now Luna has destroyed most of it but I accept it as a part of her mental health.
1 person likes this
@RasmaSandra (82306)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
23 May 23
Glad you could take a photo, It looks great just the same,
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (183865)
• United States
23 May 23
We just had our weed bed transformed into a lovely flower garden. Maybe suggesting low maintenance flowers and plants would encourage people to garden more.
