..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.

Agree with a PP that your idea of nice may not be the same as other people's

Best to start with things that couldn't possibly be controversial eg pick up litter, and see what follows from that

I'd just start by painting your gate and maybe putting up some planters, like geraniums in pots on your wall. A good litter pick up won't hurt and if you contact the council, they may even arrange a good spring clean of it for you. Weeding would make it look better as well.

Last time anybody around here did that and cleared the fly tipping, invasive plants and made it into a nice area for kids, the council decided to flog it off for housing two years later (just after they'd won awards for the community garden), announcing it by way of the developers putting a huge metal gate up, secured by a giant chain and padlock.

@Hdhdjejdj

You're right. Silly me. Now you come to mention it, I think I'd like a little patio in front of my house. At the minute the pavement is just bare slabs of stone and some weeds. Sometimes dog poo and litter. This will be a really good way to clean it up and use the space better.
My front door opens right onto the street, so my bistro table and chairs will block the right of way, but I'll let them sit on it if they fancy, so am SURE it's fine. They'll like the ferns in the big glazed pots too. So pretty.

Come now.

Some images of the front of my brothers flats.

@FATEdestiny This is what I mean OP about your nice isn’t the same as everyone else’s nice.

Some people will love that. I hate it. I think it’s far too much, there’s more plants and greenery there then necessary and it’s overcrowded and ugly.

So I would not be happy if you did anything like that outside my house.

@VaguelyInteresting I have no actual interest in your house. It’s just strange you don’t understand why others, including the OP would want to make the most of the outdoor space they have.

@Hdhdjejdj

But it ISNT space the OP has. It isnt their space to "make the most of" AT ALL without community consent.

And like I say, lovely in theory, but it's a public space- ergo everyone needs to be involved - not a guerilla project. Maybe her neighbours want to plan building work and need skip access. Maybe someone has medical needs and it could be emergency access. Maybe some people just don't want other people hanging out in the alley behind their garden, even if they ARE neighbours?

@Youdiditanyway

It would be a huge waste of your time to do it if some twat then came along and destroyed it all. You need to have your neighbours backing first, just pop a note through their doors asking whether they like your idea.

You know I am sure I read somewhere that instances of fly tipping reduce when you plant flowers and keep places tidy etc. I suppose Mess attracts Mess.

@missbunnyrabbit Do it!! Quite a few round our way.

run-down Moss Side alleyway has been transformed into a quirky urban oasis www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/how-run-down-alley-moss-20944938

A run-down Moss Side alleyway has been transformed into a quirky urban oasis www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/how-run-down-alley-moss-20944938

@VaguelyInteresting If you look at how other communities have done this, there is no problem with access. Why are you so angry about this? It’s good that people want to improve their environment. More people should do it

By all means give it a tidy and plant outside your own gate. But personally I wouldnt want someone planting stuff outside my gate... if I saw yours and thought it looked good I might do something myself. You might start a movement! I doubt you'd ever get everyone on the same page though. But whatever you do don't block access.... the only access to my back garden is via a back lane. Any building or garden works need to come round the back - blocking it would very annoying ( and a total waste of time because it would all have to come out)

I can understand that you want it looking nice but your ideas are a step too far.
Even jjst planting the edges or putting tubs along the edges could cause issues with vans or trucks getting down.

Not read all the thread, but I live down one of these.
Row of terraces, an alley between and then an another street of terraces.
Sounds lovely in theory to start some community type thing and flowers/trees.
In reality though big refuse bins come down there once a week and what about those wanting to park their cars outside their back gate temporarily as they have somethings they want to put in a skip before sending it back

Sounds lovely apart from the trees - there could be sewers or pipes below and tree roots would cause damage.

Anything in pots will quickly go I'd guess. I think this is the sort of project that takes a lot of people to sort and only one or two to spoil, so I'd probably not want to invest the time, money and effort if you asked me I'm afraid.

Most alleys like this aren't big enough for cars anyway. They were built before cars. Some great ideas here - also look up pocket parks which is a similar idea. In some places you may have a local council officer who is supportive. A friend of mine has had loads of support for his pocket park from the council even in the face of neighbours who get an attack of the vapours at losing one parking space. Lots of guerilla gardening near us too. It does help with fly tipping.

Our street in London has tubs and planters which we all look after. Do you have a street whatsapp group or community Facebook page? That's how everything gets organised round our way, and you get a lot of people sharing plants. If you want trees you can grow medium sized ones in pots and then they can be moved and the size controlled. Throw a street party to celebrate when done.

Thanks everyone. I have never seen any vehicle go down the alley, and I'm not sure how they would considering its narrow, full of people's bins and has that huge building crate in it! So I really don't think that's an issue.

I'm going to plant some non invasive stuff at the bottom of my wall and some climbers to start with. Tbh that will take long enough!

There's huge buddelia growing at various points in the alley which made me think people wouldn't mind some small, non invasive trees. I'm going to have a good think about it.

Why don't you print off a note and pop it through people's door? There might be some other shy people who'd love to get involved with something like this, and it's always good to build positive relay with your neighbours.

Thanks everyone. I have never seen any vehicle go down the alley, and I'm not sure how they would considering its narrow, full of people's bins and has that huge building crate in it! So I really don't think that's an issue.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve never seen it or think they would struggle. If there’s a legal right of access, you would face charges if you were to block it.

If you plant trees there without permission then legally you could be in a world of trouble.

Do you own or just rent? If you own, check all the documentation relating to the alley when you bought. That will let you know what can and cannot be done, but again, if there’s a legal right or access you cannot block it with trees.

Not only that, even if there isn’t a legal right of access, trees have roots that can affect people’s gardens and structures - you could be in trouble there too.

So unless you want legal trouble I really would be very careful with what you’re doing.

The land is probably owned by the council which means it isn't yours to turn into a garden. Our council tidied up a lot of the back alleys round here and added gates and plants. They looked great for a while but have now gone back to the same litter-filled, overgrown spaces they were which is a shame.

Sorry but "sunny alley" is a bloody mess, looked much better before. Good luck with finding non invasive trees too!
If you want the whole thing to look pulled together, I'd see if you can get funding for matching planters and space them out properly. Bamboo is quick growing, low maintenance and would fill containers quickly. Then maybe a few solar fairylights threaded through them.
Some mismatched, multicoloured, random art project could devalue your whole street.

Yabu. Do it properly with support or leave it alone - your ideas around trees show why rules are in place.

A box isn't the same as a row of trees blocking emergency vehicles accessing houses or cars etc.

My household insurance also asks people to declare close by trees over a certain height.

As someone who has had to pay a massive bill when a bit of wasteland has had trees planted in it at a block of flats when the roots went under, your post has really irked me. The reason why those trees got out of control was because whoever planted them left years ago and the whole lot is a jungle - abandoned rockery beds etc.

Yet other residents living there are paying to fix ongoing issues.

Do it within community gardening rules but don't go off and do it yourself because you don't understand the impact of what you're proposing.

@ShitPoetryClub

Sorry but "sunny alley" is a bloody mess, looked much better before. Good luck with finding non invasive trees too! If you want the whole thing to look pulled together, I'd see if you can get funding for matching planters and space them out properly. Bamboo is quick growing, low maintenance and would fill containers quickly. Then maybe a few solar fairylights threaded through them. Some mismatched, multicoloured, random art project could devalue your whole street.

Agree with this. Sunny alley looks shite. Old computer monitor with sharpie on it? Their before photo looks much better than their after photos. They should have just stuck a couple of planters each side of everyone’s gate and maintained the cobbles. I wouldn’t be happy with old tyres and tatty tin cans at my back gate.

Yes I agree Sunny Alley looks messy. And what a travesty to paint some of the bricks. They'll look crap in a few years when the paint fades or peels off

Best to avoid permanent changes to something which is fine as it is