front garden advice needed

[queen of the cobs]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of redesigning my small front garden - we just moved in 6 months ago so I've been working mostly on the back garden till now.

It's a bit messy with a Wiegelia bush in the middle, a couple of hydrangeas and some assorted hostas, delphiniums etc. I laid some bark chippings down over it to tidy it up and it looked lovely for a couple of weeks,then, a mat of growth started to poke through and within a week or so, you couldn't see the bark. It's actually quite pretty, covered with little white and blue flowers, but just not my plan.


I thought I might make the front garden my herb and salad garden - but my car is parked on a drive right next door and so I worried that the exhaust fumes wouldn't be very good for edibles? What does everyone think?

x

[lynda66]

dig it all up and plant veggies ...... or is that just me?

my front garden needs redesigning too, with a new fence and resiting the gate and path to the opposite side.... but i'm waiting for next door to put a fence in where the hedge is now, so all i have to do is the front, so rather than just leave it as a really bad lawn, i figured i may as well use the space, get the soil nice, and then completely change it when everything else is done.

I can't really see a problem with the car, unless you leave it running all day .... in reality you will just drive on and off, so they won't be subjected to it for long periods like they would next to a main road, i think it's a great idea.

[Demeter]

I'm growing edibles in my front garden. I don't have a drive (garden isn't big enough ) - however I had the same road-fumes debate with myself and decided that because it is a very quiet street (cul-de-sac really) I would take a chance. I've been eating carrots, mangetout, gooseberries and various herbs, and have some brassicas and leeks growing too. Next year I'm going to put tomatoes where the leeks and carrots have been.

[Snadger]

A herb wheel (surrounded by coloured gravel if need be!) would look attractive and be functional!

[Alison]

I currently have the following in my front garden:

Climbing French beans
Sweetcorn
Mini pumpkin
Harlequin squash
2 blueberry bushes
A fig tree in a pot
Oh and a few flowering things

OH is convinced that somebody will nick the veg but I'm working on the principal that the kids that tend to loiter near us wouldn't know the difference between flowers and veg so no greater risk than other years when we've just had ornatmentals.

[Tam]

Crimson flowered broad bean is a pretty plant for a front garden.

[SlugLobber]

I wouldn't worry about the car - like others say, you're not leaving it running all day long!

My front garden will also be dug up for veg later this year. I have a larger garden at the back, so don't need the pathetic lawn at the front! Flowers border the little lawn, so I plan to put lots of pest deterring/distracting varieties in there, with veg where the lawn is now.

[adrian901]

Whatever you grow, a bit of hedging along the front will be cheaper thana fence and give you some privacy. Loadsa websites with that sort of stuff - but since they also do fruit trees and soft fruit bushes I get my hedging from Ashridge - they also did the blackthorn and stuff we have round the allotments to keep peopel who dont grow their own out...

Ade

[lynda66]

Whatever you grow, a bit of hedging along the front will be cheaper thana fence and give you some privacy. Loadsa websites with that sort of stuff - but since they also do fruit trees and soft fruit bushes I get my hedging from Ashridge - they also did the blackthorn and stuff we have round the allotments to keep peopel who dont grow their own out...

Ade

i need to get rid of my hedge, as i can't use the hedge trimmers, and i can't rely on my son coming home from uni every time it needs trimming, so i'm putting a fence up.