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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Stopping my flowers getting trampled

18 replies

AllstarFacilier · 23/02/2024 14:04

Not so much of an AIBU, but I fell down the rabbit hole of all the other subforums and didn’t know where to post or where gets traffic and I spent time drawing so…

We live in a new build estate, which is terrible for parking. Everyone has spaces for two cars on their drives, but there’s not a lot of parking for larger families or visitors. We have lay-by style spaces as shown in blue about 5 houses down (I’ve condensed them in the picture so it’s a little further away than it looks but not by much).

We live opposite a really wide junction. You can’t park on the road outside of any of the houses without blocking the road, except for outside of our house because the wide junction means people can pass by if a car parks there (the red). People will park here instead of the lay-by. It doesn’t massively bother me that they park there, as it doesn’t stop us getting off our drive, but we’ve got flowers/bushes along the front of our garden and so people who park there have to park close to our garden to ensure cars can get past, and they step onto our flowers to get out of their car or swing their door open and swipe into them all.

It’s usually visitors/ delivery drivers etc who park there, so not always people I can catch and speak to. We don’t speak to the neighbours (not in a falling out way, just we’ve never spoken to them) and I don’t know where the visitors are going, but I suppose I should speak to them. I don’t fancy going knocking on loads of doors to ask them not to let visitors park there, and it feels silly to post notes through their door.

So I’m looking for something that would deter people from parking there? Maybe a low picket fence? I thought about some large white rocks in amongst the flowers but I’m worried people will ding their car doors in them and I’m just out to deter and not damage.

Stopping my flowers getting trampled
OP posts:
AllstarFacilier · 23/02/2024 14:05

Oh my image has been cropped and the parking bays cut off, but I’d labelled near to where they are.

OP posts:
jeaux90 · 23/02/2024 14:06

I find large spikey palms do the trick Grin

Fivecluckyhens · 23/02/2024 14:23

Yep, go for the spiky plants.

DrFoxtrot · 23/02/2024 14:27

What about manure? 💩

ItLiterallyJustSaysFoldInTheCheese · 23/02/2024 14:32

Definitely a fence, and not too low otherwise they'll just step over it.

Don't be too concerned about them dinging their cars - that's their problem! If they park considerately they'll be fine.

Dahliasrule · 23/02/2024 14:38

I don’t think it is legal to park there.

Highway Code Rule 250
at least 10 metres (32 feet) away from any junction, close to the kerb and facing in the direction of the traffic flow. in a recognised parking place or lay-by.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 23/02/2024 14:38

It's not legal to park there for a start, it's within 10m of a junction...

Anyway, flowers. Definitely get a fence, high enough that they won't be able to open their doors / step over it if they're right up against it.

Do you have any covenants about not being allowed to have fences at the front? If you do, then big spiky plants might have to be the answer.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 23/02/2024 14:39

@Dahliasrule jinx! 😂

ancienticecream · 23/02/2024 14:42

I'd go for the rock approach, although it might not affect van drivers whose doors are a bit higher off the ground. I guess a fence is the only solution.

toomuchfaff · 23/02/2024 14:45

fk it get the rocks - why care if they are damaging their cars - they do not give a toss about your flowers? Get the rocks. I was going to say BIG WHITE ROCKS!!!

Flickersy · 23/02/2024 14:45

Would posts and a chain work? Or some kind of estate fencing?

Mumoftwo1312 · 23/02/2024 14:48

Dahliasrule · 23/02/2024 14:38

I don’t think it is legal to park there.

Highway Code Rule 250
at least 10 metres (32 feet) away from any junction, close to the kerb and facing in the direction of the traffic flow. in a recognised parking place or lay-by.

Thank you for this - I didn't know you had to park in the direction of traffic flow! So many people (including myself until today) break this rule! Everyday is a school day.

AllstarFacilier · 23/02/2024 15:32

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 23/02/2024 14:38

It's not legal to park there for a start, it's within 10m of a junction...

Anyway, flowers. Definitely get a fence, high enough that they won't be able to open their doors / step over it if they're right up against it.

Do you have any covenants about not being allowed to have fences at the front? If you do, then big spiky plants might have to be the answer.

Thanks for all the ideas. Yeah I don’t think it’s legal for them to park there. Now that you’ve mentioned it, no one on the estate has fences/walls etc so I think there may be something preventing us from having them, I’ll have to dig stuff out. The rocks may be the way to go, I was worried that someone would damage their car and come knocking. I don’t intend to hide them amongst the flowers, but I’m worried they grow over them and hide them and we get a complaint.

Our long term plan is to move the flowers over and extend the drive, which should stop people parking there as they’d end up blocking the drive, but that won’t be needed until the kids pass their driving tests and we need space to park another car.

OP posts:
Station11 · 23/02/2024 15:35

Definitely a rock, if they do damage their cars can come knocking, just remind them that they aren't allowed to legally park there.

triballeader · 23/02/2024 15:48

Berberis….lots and lots of lovely berberis grown as a wildlife friendly hedge. Berberis is known as natures barbed wire by gardeners. Some varieties are very spikey! No one sane would want to risk badly scratched car paintwork nor lacerated human skin. Comes in a variety of colours and It has lovely scented flowers that become red berries in the winter.It also comes in different sizes depending on the variety you choose. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/berberis

Berberis

Berberis

Learn all about berberis - choose the best ones to grow, where to buy, where to plant and care advice from RHS experts

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/berberis

Birch101 · 23/02/2024 15:49

If fence is not permitted due to estate 'rules' pick thorny plants look at Intruder Proof Hedging for some ideas needless to say you'll need to get nice size ones and high density to have a good initial impact

Dahliasrule · 23/02/2024 18:39

We had a beautiful purple berberis hedge for this very reason. It did the job, looked wonderful, but oh, it grew and grew and need painful clipping three or four times a year!

cansu · 23/02/2024 19:34

You can put up a fence or you could spend the rest of your life fretting and stressing out or you could plant elsewhere.

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