Front gardens are often a small but precious part or our properties.

They are the first thing we see when coming into the house and we want them to look beautiful and reflect our taste and the interior of our property.

Nowadays they are also valuable space which we might want to use to park our car and store our bins or bicycles.

In a city like London residential gardens make up for a quarter of all the land and front garden are a further quarter of that. 

This is a huge area that in the last decades has been increasingly paved over to give space to car parking and to reduce maintenance time and costs.

Pressure on our water systems, risk of flooding, increasing temperature and pollution and reduction in biodiversity are the main consequences.

As a result our roads and neighbourhoods become less beautiful and pleasant.

The good news is that it doesn’t need to be this way and there are clever, and creative ways to use the space in our front gardens for our needs and making it beautiful, permeable and wildlife friendly.

Using permeable materials such as gravel and clay pavers will reduce the need to install drainage and avoid water run-off

Paving can be reduced to where the wheels of the car are parked and the area around it can still be planted with low growing plants.

Planting areas with trees and shrubs or using hedges for boundaries will improve water absorption.

Where space is limited climbing plants are a great way to green up a small space or green roofs can be used for bin or bike shelters making sure we can have storage without reducing planting areas.

Adding flowering plants will not only benefit pollinators and wildlife but will make our property more attractive adding value to it.

Plants will also absorb carbon dioxide and therefore improve air quality, and a well planted front garden will also help to mitigate extreme temperature.

When dealing with a small space it is even more important do get the help from a designer to make sure to maximise our space. Contact me at Priscillarossidoria@gmail.com