We own our front gardens let’s use them!

[Bostonten]

Why is everyone still snobby about the use of front gardens? With land being at a premium at the moment, why shouldn’t people use them as they wish without snobbery?

You’ve just inspired me OP! We have a lovely large back garden but lots of trees so not much evening sun. I can happily take my pimms and deckchair to the front garden now!

I had no idea sitting in your front garden could be seen as chavvy. Mind blown! whatever next?

Is it because people assume you must have a smaller back garden?

Surely for most people it’s because of privacy, security and practicality rather than snobbery?

If you’re in the suburbs, even if not on a main road, you’ve probably got a fair amount of vehicle and pedestrian traffic passing and it seems to be just human nature that passers by turn and look. Many front gardens are quite short so there’s noise from traffic or passers by can hear your conversation plus there are rules on how high a boundary wall or fence can be so it’s not that easy to create a private space at the front.

In terraced house’s most people have their bins out front so as not to have to drag them through the house, I mean who wants to sit having an al fresco lunch with the aroma of bin around them?

Then you’ve got the fact that more households have one or more cars and on street parking is limited hence using the front as a driveway rather than for flower displays etc. Unless you’re fairly remote growing veg in the front garden has a higher risk of theft or vandalism than in your enclosed back garden, likewise hanging your washing!

If you’ve got the choice between front and back it makes sense that more people will make better use of the back garden.

There’s a lovely front garden in the next road to ours - it’s a corner plot and they have a greenhouse with veg patches, and then loads of beautiful planting all year round. It makes me so joyful to see it on my walk!

My new neighbours have a bench in their front garden and love sitting there when the weather is nice.
I hate it, it forces me to say hello to them whenever I go for a walk or have to drive somewhere.😅
They have a nice big back garden too, why don't they sit there? Front garden is for parking!

Great to hear about all the different planting ideas. I sometimes think about replacing our small front lawn with a clover one or similar. Has anyone done this?

@Snoopsnoggysnog

Would love to see photos of people’s front garden if they actually use them to sit out!

Our front garden is the same size as our back garden (i.e.. both are small). But the front garden faces south and so it is nicer/brighter/warmer for more of the year. The back garden is only nice on really hot days.

Not only do we sit in our front garden during good weather from spring to autumn, but we eat meals there. We have a dining set out there. And our wall is only 4 feet high.

I hadn't realised I was traumatising the local population by using my front garden to suit myself, but then again I'm not of British origin. Whoops!

We have a rather odd-shaped plot which means that the gardens are almost back to front. At the front is a 70ft long triangle of lawn and trees with a big paved space like a patio leading up to the front door, whilst the back is a walled courtyard (although still fairly big). The front door is at the side, facing away from the road.

However we are determined to make the most of both even if the layout is a bit odd. The more private back space is for entertaining, sunbathing, drying washing and growing herbs and things in pots. At the front I've planted huge rambling roses along the walls and up the front of the house plus loads of bee-friendly plants, dug a pond and put up birdfeeders and bee houses. It'll become a wildlife haven, a beautiful jungle that can be seen from the road. But there are also two benches out there and I love to sit there just watching the birds on the feeders. I've had lots of lovely chats with our neighbours when pottering around out there and thankfully the road is fairly quiet.

The previous owners used the front for taking cars and boats apart...what a waste of green space!

My front garden is tiny and is just a garden bed, I have packed it full of shrubs/plants so it looks pretty. Nowhere to sit, nor would I want to as it's right on the street.

@GardenAnarchist your garden looks lovely - love all the flowering shrubs.

A garden should be a garden, whether it has grass, plants, vegetables being grown or a shed/outbuilding.

I object to the paving over of front gardens though, as it can contribute towards flooding and reduce carbon capture. I also think it helps to encourage SUVs which probably only about 1% of those who have them actually need, and about 75% would fail a driving test in them.

I don’t want to be on show or have to socialise with every pleb that walks past.

It is used in that it’s full of plants, bushes and a huge tree.
I wouldn’t spend any time in it because it’s north facing and because of privacy.

Always find it a bit weird when people choose to sit in the front garden when the back one is actually private. I just prefer privacy personally.

I sit in my front garden often as it's in the shade in the afternoon, whereas the rear garden gets all the sun so sometimes it's a bit too warm.
I don't care what the neighbours think if it.

Always find it a bit weird when people choose to sit in the front garden when the back one is actually private.

It is no less private than sitting in a pub beer garden or similar. Not everybody is obsessed with privacy.

I think it's because the type of people (men) who do it. For me the stereotype (from an estate I used to live on and had to walk past them if I wanted to use the main pedestrian route out of the estate) was unemployed men sitting on deckchairs in their vests with a can of beer, staring at you if you went by. People used to nickname that part of the estate "Beirut". I have a friend who lives there now and he says it's no better.

Aren't we supposed to "understand the optics"?

People just want to be private in their gardens surely? I couldn’t relax pottering about in the garden if everyone walking past could see me! If I only had a front garden i’d have to put up a big hedge. Being at home for me is about being able to shut away the world. If I want to see people, I’ll go out!

Thank you! We've put a lot of effort into making it a lovely space to look at and to sit in.

Front garden, I've got some shrubs and grasses in and a hedge growing to provide a bit more privacy. But it gets lovely morning sun and I often sit there in the morning. We've eaten out there in the evenings, it's full of bees and butterflies. When we moved in was a scrappy uneven lawn that I hated mowing. Paving it means we use it.