theRatandMouse - London's property blog

I know, I know... who has a front garden? But this is one Royal Horticultural Society campaign actually inspired by west London:

The RHS's advice is available in a leaflet called Front Gardens, compiled by Leigh Hunt, a horticulture adviser at RHS Wisley, who was influenced by his experiences in West London. "I remember witnessing vast swaths of gardens being turned into hard surfacing. The roads became inhospitable and grey." he said.

And it's not just about inhospitality and greyness, either. It's about house prices, too. (That got your attention.) Here's a list of reasons why it's bad to turn your front garden into a carpark:

- Less rainwater's absorbed. It has to go somewhere, and the drains weren't built to cope. It could back up and flood your house.
- More pavement, less trees means more heat.
- Birds and small animals don't like tarmac.
- A Halifax study showed you gained as much as 23% in property value by living in an area with nice gardens.

And if you must squeeze your car up to your house, the RHS goes so far as to provide some tips about how to do it without totally nuking the nature. There's more over at the Times.

Don't pave over your garden... [September 6]

I was so releaved to read this article - I thought I was the only person tearing my hair out as I see garden after garden replaced by NCP! We moved in to a pretty road of 1930's housing 12 months ago - we liked it because it was tree lined with lovely front gardens, in just twelve months at least 12 dives have gone in - boundary to boundary paving - not a shrub in site and oh don't the cars look so beautiful outside the houses, what a lovely out look - or better still have the crive put in and still park infront of someone elses house - I am dispairing the local authority isn't interested - help me to campaign, point me in the right direction - I am today going to call the RHS for the save our gardens leaflet and I will post through every letter box in this road.