Front garden allotment

[Cityvillagegardener]

I'll try to keep this quick.

We live in a lovely close. Nice detached houses with very manicured, good sized and open front gardens. Lovely neighbours although one man is a little bit of a curtain twitcher/ doesn't like change.

I would like to replace my front lawn with a big veg growing area-but I'm concerned my neighbours will be pissed off that we have gone against the grain.

We are quite new to the close, big young family. Most other people have been here 30+ years.
Don't want to take up the back garden where the children play.

I want to show the kids where food comes from and it is a hobby I used to really enjoy before life got crazy with babies (we had an allotment before but now not that near any)

Would it be unreasonable to dig up my front lawn and grow veg? Our deed say we can't put up any high walls (hence the close is very open with sweeping lawns)

Aibu.

I grow veg on my front garden in raised beds.
It was 100% grass before, most houses on my street have either flower beds or lawn as the front garden. I figured that if flower beds were acceptable then so were fruit/veg beds.

Thank you! It probably seems like a daft question! My husband thinks my ideas are a bit "out there" so I wanted to gauge opinion.

I think it's a wonderful idea and I'd probably strike up conversations with you about your veg while you were out there weeding etc. :)

It is a fabulous idea. Do it.

If you want to make something a bit more showy you could plant a potager? And mix ornamentals with veg? There are loads of ideas on Pinterest.
I did a similar thing in my tiny back garden and it looks great.

I wish more people used the space in their gardens to the max, grass is such a waste!

My initial reaction was no but then thought that’s only because it’s not the norm! You could do raised beds using sleepers if you want to make it look a bit fancier and screen with fruit bushes

I think if you made it look nice with a mix of ornamentals, perennials there's a limit to what they can say, as long as it's not forbidden in your deeds.

Can't see why not- it's your garden!
Unless you live in a modern estate with some super restricted covenant about how the front of your house, garden, driveway should be maintained.

my uncle grew amazing vegetables and he only had a front garden. One side of the path was grass and flowers, the other was vegetables. His garden opened onto a fairly busy through road and everyone stopped to chat to him and admire his veg. I think it is a great idea and i am sad my uncle is no longer able to maintain his wonderful garden.

This started a conversation in our house and now my DH is a little worried I might have added a job to his list
We decided that actually front gardens are a bit of a waste and just for other peoples benefit.

We are lucky and have room for a veg patch and somewhere to relaxin the back garden, but if the garden were smaller it would make sense to put the veg patch out the front and relax out the back.

One thing we did say was we would have to keep it really neat and tidy, and make it as pretty as we could. Think it is all about the aesthetics.

@Cityvillagegardener

I'll try to keep this quick.

We live in a lovely close. Nice detached houses with very manicured, good sized and open front gardens. Lovely neighbours although one man is a little bit of a curtain twitcher/ doesn't like change.
^^^^
The word manicured struck me.
I'd have a word with the neighbours first.
From a selling point your garden would stick out and look odd.
Could put people off buying in your area.
Most people use the back or get an allotment.
Not sure I believe this thread is real.

A friend of mine does this and it’s beautiful. It’s not an obvious veg garden. She plants spring onions next to flowers, green beans with sweet peas, etc. it looks great.

It may indeed be your own front lawn, but you all share that space. Some people would find it really jarring to have the homogeneity of the street disappear. You need to decide whether your desires outweigh their desires.

Take your kids to the park and put your unsightly veg in the back.

Either use containers and compost; or you should have your soil tested for toxic residue. Residue can come from local incinerators or factories, or could be persistent garden chemicals that are not regulated for use on farmland.
It costs about £100, there's a list of companies that do the tests here;

https://www.soilassociation.org/farmers-growers/low-input-farming-advice/soil-health/testing-your-soil/soil-testing-companies/

Yes but - and it's a big but - I would feel more pressure to keep it looking nice, which will take a lot of time and possibly money, if you go the raised bed route.

Could you get an allotment instead? Or start with some bits in your back garden in tubs etc?

I think you could defintely do it in a way that respected the street scene and traditional front gardens especially if you do have a good size space.

I think having canes and large sacks of spuds lining the footpath would be jarring but with considerate design you could have a lovely area and planning it with your children (dep on ages) would be good fun

But you own that garden op. Do whatever you want with it!! It isn't a show piece for the neighbours! We are having to move and if needs must I will be doing the same..

A neat veg garden can be really beautiful. Go for it!

Yes, it’s fine. I might used raised beds or planters, though. It’s quite common where I live, and there are also on-street ones too where large planters have fruit and veg in.

I think it depends where you park the cars - I don't use the front garden because I don't want the veg covered in car exhaust fumes every time us or the neighbours back on or off the driveway. However, I think veg patches can look lovely. Can always put some edible/crop friendly flowers in there - marigolds, nasturtiums, sunflowers etc all have a useful place in a veg patch.

I would and I'd make sure to include pretty flowering veg such as runner beans, as a neighbourly concession to aesthetics.

If you use companion planting (certain plants help ward off bugs from certain vegetables) then it will look very similar to a cottage garden which can be beautiful to look at. Also healthier as they attract the bees and beneficial insects, which attract the birds and the hedgehogs.

https://www.thompson-morgan.com/companion-planting-guide

Go for it. Too many people with stick up their arse about stupid things. A lovely veg garden is a million times better than most of the monstrosities that people call gardens these days with their obsession for neatness without a single blade of grass out of place.

I think it is fine and can’t believe someone thinks the thread might not be real. Adam Frost in Gardener’s World does vegetables in his front garden and over the years Gardener’s World has featured a few people who have done this. Someone in my road had something that looked like a variety of curcubit on the rails above their front wall last year and I was hoping to see them so could ask what it is.

As other’s have suggested above a potager style would look good. There’s so many different varieties of veg available and with the children in mind I would chose varieties carefully such as crimson flowered broad beans, purple and yellow French beans, red and yellow lettuce etc.

Mix in some herbs and flowers in between. Look at wooden obelisk for supports instead of bamboo. It could look lovely and also be productive.

My old neighbour planted runner beans, onions and other veg in his front garden because he had a tiny back one. Never gave it a second thought.

We live on a similar cul de sac. One of the 24 houses has a vegetable garden in their front garden.

I know of one neighbour who judges it for looking untidy/less smart than the rest of the street.

Personally, I like it.

Just like I am happy to see washing drying in people's gardens, it makes it feel homely and lived in.