Taking over a verge as part of own garden, does this happen a lot?

[HolidayCriminal]

I know 2 local households that have done this. And they get very shirty if anyone walks over their bit of adopted landscape. They don't actually fence the patch of earth off. It's right on the road/edged of pavement on routes we frequently travel and definitely not their own private property. One bit of adopted verge is across the road from the adopter's house, they just wanted a nicer view across the road from the end of their parking spot/garden.

Sometimes I forget to watch out & DC run over the bit of verge causing the adopters to instantly run out of home to tirade over DC's behaviour... but technically I think the self-appointed landscapers are committing a form of vandalism and really don't have a right to tirade (or do they?) I suppose it's a form of criminal damage if DC trample their plants, but feels so annoying when they have no rights to put the plants there in first place (do they? Does everyone? Could I plant Leylandii?)

[LifeHuh]

The people who have planted flowers have done what they wanted, and in the process cut down the areas where the children can wander- so how is that fair? And what looks nice is very much a matter of opinion.
Having said that I wouldn't let my DCs walk on plants-but I do get annoyed by people who decide what is nice and then modify public spaces accordingly , without finding out if everyone else agrees with them!

[HolidayCriminal]

DC went over to smell the pretty flowers & stumbled onto a few.
(Sorry I have clumsy kids)
It wasn't willful damage.
Still pissed off the person who planted the items.
So now I have to tell DC to stay away from the pretty flowers.
that somebody had no right to plant there much less yell at me for letting my children get close to them

[ferrar]

But it wasnt theirs to take. They stole it.
It needs to be a group decision.

[Technical]

Does it matter who owns/planted the flowers? Children shouldn't be trampling them

I thought you weren't allowed to park on grass verges

[ferrar]

But some people [who also dont own it] dont want it to look nicer. They want to use it.

[FrameyMcFrame]

Mum Mum does this, but it's the back lane and she doesn't mind if people walk on it...
She needs a bigger garden, just has a yard at the mo

[Virtualhaggling]

If the verge is just grass I would allow dc to walk /play/run on it. If there were lots of lovely flowers I would certainly not willingly trample all over it.

Who cares who owns it fgs. Just respect your environment and be grateful that some people care enough to make it look nicer for all. .

[AgaPanthers]

You shouldn't park on a verge, it's very antisocial.

I think it's nice to teach your children to step on plants, even if the plants aren't really supposed to be there.

[BackforGood]

Where I grew up, everyone mowed the verge outside their house - just maintained the road looking nice I guess, never really thought about it, but I just assumed they were part of the house/front garden.
I've never owned a property with one, but like to hope if I did then I'd like to keep it nice too.
What we don't know is if your dc are trampling their flowers, or running on some grass, as to who is being unreasonable in this case. I can't see that running on grass is going to do it any harm, but it someone has put other things there, then your dc should learn that they are not there to be trodden on - just the same as when there are flowers in the park - they are there to admire and cheer everyone up, not to be run through.

[withextradinosaurs]

I hate to see cars parked on communal grass areas. They're grass, not parking spaces.

[Pilgit]

My mum's old house property included the verge - the council thought it was theirs and maintained it! My dad bought a verge opposite to stop it being built on and positively encouraged playing (he always intended to put apple trees on it to let kids go scrumping but didn't get around to it before buggering off)

[MajorGrinch]

But equally it belongs to your children as much as to them. And believe me, these types of people lose sight of that very quickly.

But that still doesn't mean the kids should trample flowers etc....

If someone takes a bit of pride in their area & makes an effort to look after it, I don't think that's a bad thing...

[ferrar]

I am a bit with you op.
Round here, someone has extended his garden to take in a corner piece that does not belong to him, then put up a fence so that the land became his. But someone took him to court and got it back again.
Also someone blocked off a footpath. Actually dont want to out myself, but there is another story I know too.

It is not on.

I agree with respect if people are trying to make something look nice. But equally it belongs to your children as much as to them. And believe me, these types of people lose sight of that very quickly.

[HolidayCriminal]

Hi again. I'm sure both patches are not owned by the people who tend them, nor are they part of a Town-in-Bloom project. I saw council workers removing shrubs off one of the patches a few yrs ago, the remaining 2 plants look lonely & neglected to me. There's a telephone pole on there too. The other adopters confirmed when I asked that it isn't their land, they just like to keep it looking pretty (what they think looks pretty).
Both patches of landscaped land are surrounded by rough bits, iyswim, so it's easy to forget that bit of land is being tended to and mustn't be trod on.

I just think it's weird!!

[PenelopePipPop]

Are you sure the verge is publicly maintained? I live on an unadopted road and there is no way of knowing that if you just walk down it - there is a ROW. We maintain the bit we own (our house to the middle of the road) and so do all our neighbours.

Loads of roads are unadopted even in urban areas so the verge could be private property.

In any event YABU - children should not run in places where people have planted flowers. Doesn't really matter why the flowers were planted there, could be guerilla gardening, could be the owners front garden. Your DC should know better.

[Fontofnowt]

Personally i prefer to see neat painted rocks over muddy tyre tracks and think it makes the street look loads better.
I don't see any difference in the trip hazard of wheel ruts compared to boulders either.
It's nice when people keep their areas tidy.

I'm the knobber who stops her car because the car infront threw out McDonald's bags on the grass with the best daffies in.
I'm getting auld see.

[fluffyraggies]

Should add there was no foot path or 'public right of way' our side of the road, so no one walked that side, so no tripping risk.

maybe just to the bloody school run parkers

[fluffyraggies]

OTT to be coming out of the house to shout. Are they really coming out to shout because DCs are on the grass? Or are your DCs actually 'trampling plants'?

I used to maintain a big bit of grass which was out front, but not technically ours. No one else mowed it if we didn't. We had to cross it to get to our garage. I got pissed off with cars running two wheels along the edge and parking like that, half on the grass, on the school run. no need for it. made a muddy great bloody mess of the grass. we put a few white painted rocks along. problem stopped.

[MajorGrinch]

Does it hurt you to keep your kids off of a bit of maintained land? What about front gardens that aren't fenced?

Surely it can't be that much hassle to you....

[StanleyLambchop]

In our council area you are not allowed to do this- they get shirty as when the grass mowers come it makes their job more difficult to mow round the plants/trees/stones. My friend lives in one of the houses and she gets annoyed when people park (perfectly legally) on the road by the verge as they might step on the grass when they get out of the car. At the same time, she was massively annoyed when the council installed bollards to stop people parking on the verge as she 'didn't want to have to look at bollards ' outside her house. Some people are massively over-invested in things like that!

[Fontofnowt]

In our local authority anyone placing boulders around verges are told to remove them or the council will and they will be billed.
Supposedly it's because people can trip and the mowers can't maintain the verge.

Churned up mud pits now.

[neepsandtatties]

If the verge is owned by the highways agency, then that is one of the very few instances where adverse possession does not work, i.e. no matter how long you have been 'adopting it' even fencing it in, the highways agency will always own it.

Our neighbour has sited his Klargester (septic tank) in the highways-owned verge outside his house. If, at any time from now til eternity we decided to report him to the council, he would be made to move it.

[SometimesLonely]

If you attend to a verge outside your own premises and want to stop vehicles from parking there, what about positioning large rocks around it at intervals? and sprinkle itching powder to stop dogs from pooing there.

[5OBalesofHay]

We have a big grass verge (which we own), fine with kids playing in it, but can't understand when people park on it. Why do they do that?

[ConferencePear]

I live on the edge of a village and we and most of our neighbours mow the grass outside the front hedge. There's not much of it, only about four sweeps back and forth. We all know it's not ours and hope the people who bring their dogs down in this direction to have a poo won't let them do it on the mown grass, or at least pick it up if they do.
We are often disappointed, but no-one complains even if there is occasionally a suspicion that it is done deliberately to provoke.