..to want to turn terrace back alley into a community garden?

[missbunnyrabbit]

I live in a row of Victorian terraces with another row behind me. In between our yards is a cobbled back alley. At the moment it is full of weeds and grass between the cobbles, bits of rubbish, and a big crate from someone's old building work. We use the alley for our bins, but no vehicles ever go down there.

I have this dream of giving it a tidy and planting things there. Some small trees going down the middle, little flowers or shrubs by the edges. Turn it into a place that will attract birds and insects etc.

I feel like if I wrote to the council, or neighbours, they wouldn't want it to happen and that would shut it all down. Then if I tried anything, they'd know it was me and I'd get into trouble/hated by neighbours.

I can't think of any disadvantages, I don't think it would obstruct anything, though I'd have to remove some cobbles here and there to be able to plant trees and plants. But it would create a nice view out of our back windows and would be a nice passage to walk down [I do see the occasional person walking down it].

So WIBU to, under the cover of darkness, become a secret community gardener and turn this alley into a wildlife haven? Or is it unreasonable to do without neighbours' and councils' permission. I'm happy to do it all myself.

I'd say you would be unreasonable to plant trees down the middle of an alley that potentially someone might need to drive down. What if someone has garden materials delivered that needs to come to the back of the house? Or something like that?

If you feel like your neighbours might object then I don't think you should do it secretly. Can't you ask them?

Have you checked if your council offers any small grants for community projects like that? In my experience lots of councils are really supportive of community alleyway greening projects because it improves the area and often leads to a reduction in expensive flytipping clearance etc. Have a look on their website. You might be surprised!

I said YABU purely from an emergency services perspective. Trees down the middle would block them however I see no reason you can’t give it a tidy and put in some planters should the space allow?

Sounds like a lovely idea, but you need to get permission from the landowners (presumably the council). They will take it down without, something similar happened in my town with a community allotment on council land recently.

Thin planter beds or trellis up peoples walls (done by the wall owners) would be nice and not obstruct the access. Trees down the middle isnt great - access and roots would be an issue.

We are in a similar situation, but the bin wagons go down ours so no option to pretty it up.

Do you have a “market road residents association” for your street or community type board? If not get one set up and get the alley onto the agenda. You stand a far better chance of getting permission and of getting it funded if you are an official group.

The thing about vehicle access though, is that a giant crate of old building rubble has been in the alley for the two years I've lived here - despite myself and my neighbour complaining to the council about it. So nothing could get down the alley whilst that's there anyway.

That kinda makes me think, if they can leave a giant crate there, I can plant trees? :S

How would the bin wagon get past if it had trees planted down the middle?

Trees down the middle sounds like a terrible idea, because people need access. Alleyway community gardens tend to have lots of vertical planting (climbers, planters screwed into the walls, vertical planting wall systems) and then planters and benches along the sides of the alley, leaving a clear path down the middle for access and children's play. Maybe start by clearing it up and putting some planters outside your house and seeing if anyone else joins in, or gives positive comments.

Yes, get rid of the weeds, and perhaps scatter seeds of prettier weeds.

But no trees - what if they needed to get a fire engine down there?

And as you say it's in use when there's building work needed.

I know in many areas, cobbled streets and even alleys are protected, so you could be breaking the law if you take them up.

@missbunnyrabbit

The thing about vehicle access though, is that a giant crate of old building rubble has been in the alley for the two years I've lived here - despite myself and my neighbour complaining to the council about it. So nothing could get down the alley whilst that's there anyway.

That kinda makes me think, if they can leave a giant crate there, I can plant trees? :S

But that doesn’t make sense OP.

If you’ve complained to the council about a pile of rubble blocking access along the alleyway, how could you then justify blocking the same alleyway with something else?

Definitely not trees but I can't see folk objecting if you started to tidy it up first. I wouldn't do it secretly, who knows once you start others may join and help you.
Yes to spring and winter bulbs along the edges. Maybe a raised vegetable planter outside your own property but ask permission if you want to plant more outside other's properties. There's a scheme called Incredible Edible where members of the community grow fruit and vegetables to which anyone can help themselves.
I think it sounds a great idea apart from the trees.

I’d look for a different patch of unused ground to plant on. The alley has the potential to get cleared once the council get their act together.

Sounds like a lovely idea.

But, why wouldn't you want to include your neighbours? The whole pont of a community garden is it's for the community.

Why wouldn't your neighbours want it to happen?

If access is an issue, then you would need to find a way to do it that still allowed access, I'm sure there's a compromise that's better than the current status quo.

You need to bring the community along with you if you want to make this happen, and to do that you need to be open to understanding other people's needs, not get stuck on your initial vision and think that you need to make it happen whether others agree or not. That's a recipe for distaster!

I think you could do with a partner in crime. Is there one other neighbour you think you might be able to get onside at this point? It would probably be easier to persuade the others if you can present it as amore than one of you wanting to offer your time to tidy up the alley and make it pretty, and asking if anyone else wants to help.

Nice though but who actually owns it ?

We’ve had a post re house purchase where the neighbour was storing wood in her back passage ( fnar fnar ) and absolutely that wasn’t ok

Start by dropping a note on everyone's doors

"Hi, planning a litter pick/general tidy of the alleyway on X Sunday. Everyone welcome; if anyone has any ideas for making the alley a bit nicer, maybe we can talk about it then too. Be nice to meet you all!"

Tidy up, get rid of litter, planters, trellis etc. Lots of lovely ways to brighten it up. No need to be secretive about it. Maybe others would help

But no trees blocking access

Nice idea but don't remove any cobbles. Put things in planters

You can plant trees in pots. No need to dig up anything. I think people get a bit weird about trees being planted near to their homes because of roots and with some species, they have a point.
Otherwise it’s a good idea. I’ve seen it done a lot around where I live and it looks fantastic. There are ideas on Pinterest. I would definitely try to get others involved though.

There are all kinds of initiatives like this going on in the UK and around the world. Google green lanes UK or green alleyways UK. The council might even give you a grant for it.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

Start by dropping a note on everyone's doors

"Hi, planning a litter pick/general tidy of the alleyway on X Sunday. Everyone welcome; if anyone has any ideas for making the alley a bit nicer, maybe we can talk about it then too. Be nice to meet you all!"

This is a lovely idea. The way I got to know all my neighbours was to send them all Christmas cards, if you don't know your neighbours then this is a fab way to hopefully meet some AND to sort the alley out. You could then talk to them about what you could do.

This one is in the North of England. There's one in Manchester called How Green Is Your Alley

www.infrastructure-ni.gov.uk/news/mallon-fund-greening-alleyways

If you throw in the fact it could increase the value of their home too, you may get some takers.

correction that should read North of Ireland