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 can't believe that I haven't ever thought of doing this! I have a drive with a largish curved bed to one side that would be so perfect for herbs and veggies. Plenty of keen gardeners in my area so lots of opportunities for swaps , advice and chitchat😄
Just the right time for planning too, thanks OP!

Well you already know one person who isn't going to like it then.

Generally I think that people that take pride in their houses like things to be similar and ordered, so if you have 10 houses all with similar gardens and one that looks different then yes there are probably going to be people who are not so happy with that, and once you get a sizable group of people together then there is pretty much a guarantee that one of that group is going to find it an eyesore.

But at the end of the day it is your garden to do what you want with (covenants accepted), so if you don't care what other people think go ahead.

Just as you are allowed to do what you like though, doesn't mean everyone else should be forced to like it.

What they can actually do about it is another issue.

Iv got a greenhouse and raised. Veg beds in my front garden. Go for it ! 🥦🥕🌶️

Most people where I live grow some type of fruit or veg at the front. We’ve only got a few feet of paved area before the pavement , so people use planters. My neighbour opposite in the ground floor flat grows tomatoes, courgettes and peas as a minimum.

Ok this is very reassuring. I just didn't want to be an a*hole but the truth is the front lawn is fairly dull and unused. Back garden is fairly shaded and nice and enclosed for kids to play safe (I'm sure the neighbours would prefer a few raised beds out front over a trampoline or my washing line!)

I've made a start by planting the cherry tree my kids bought me for mother's day.
I think 2/ 3 contained beds initially and the rest lawn and fruit trees and if I like it I can gradually take over the front lawn!

Out of the potential issues raised fumes from my car exhaust is the most worrying but where we park is over the other side so not too much of an issue?!

It's a very quiet street, no cut through, so not too concerned about thievery...but who knows!

Thanks all who have advised I'm going have found your suggestions really helpful :)

A house round the corner has done this plus all the way down the side too - I love walking buy and seeing what’s there and what’s popping up next / nicely done with spring bulbs in abundance now and as the year goes on lots of chrysanthemums and other flowers between the fruit and veg - just fabulous !

Intersperse plants like nasturtiums and sweet peas which deter slugs and add colour. Agree raised beds and containers will provide a good base . Some tomatoes and strawberries can be grown in hanging baskets.

A neighbour grows tomatoes in pots in his front garden, always makes me smile when I see them growing. You could have people with sticky fingers knicking stuff as they're passing though.

I don't think you owe your neighbours anything more than not keeping piles of junk in your garden or creating a place that attracts vermin.

I'd grow whatever I wanted. How often do people stop and look at their neighbours' gardens, anyway? You see them when you pass by, but you're unlikely to sit and contemplate the view. You can twist yourself into a pretzel trying to make everyone happy, but someone will always find something to complain about. It's not as though it's destroying the value of the neighbourhood, and it's easy enough to tear it all out and let it revert to lawn if you change your mind.

If you're worried, why not try a potager garden?

I have an allotment, and they can get abit messy at certain times of the year.

my allotment is sectioned off in four big beds and a small bed by the shed and seating area. By the end of October, two are totally empty, dug over, covered in a lot (two or three transit tippers on each bed) of horse manure, and covered in tarpaulin until the middle of March, when they are uncovered, fully rotovated over, and the peas, beetroot and chard goes in. Waiting for the other bits out of the greenhouse by the end of April.

One bed has all the winter veg, and now (winter veg gone) I’ve planted onions and shallots in it now to be ready for this winter to be empty.

the fruit bushes around the edges on the path, get proper compost yearly.

I personally don’t have a problem with it, I actually love my allotment, find it peaceful and good for my fitness. I’m also vegetarian so I do like trying to grow an array of different vegetables that aren’t in the supermarkets.

I do have a fair sized greenhouse at home, and I also put strawberries in the hanging baskets, but I’m not really overlooked by neighbours.

Good luck with it, if you choose to do it, you’ve done it before do you know the highs and lows of it already :-)

Just wanted to jump back on to express my thanks to those who suggested the potager garden. I am a history nerd and really passionate about health and wellness- so perhaps I can blend my passion for healing and the past by creating my own potager garden, edible, medicinal and attractive!!!

Thank you :)

YANBU, maybe leave a strip of grass in front of the veg beds if that’s practical. I would recommend raised beds.

This kind of thing https://pin.it/3NRw9mBG5 is really typical in Switzerland in a front, side or back garden. They look amazing in summer and autumn but can look pretty scratty in winter/early spring unless you really actively do something to keep it attractive. Could you section your garden so that the bit most visible to the road has some constant life?

We grow veg in raised beds made from oak railway sleepers which we bought new. We also have bantams for eggs. All out in our front garden. People stop to chat to us when we're out there and the bantams have quite their own following 🥰
No one has complained and the last house that sold along our road went for just over 850k so I don't think we have lowered local house prices 🤣

I do this as front garden much bigger than back .I have a raised bed and large containers for carrots etc .But I also have annuals flowering bushes fruit bushes and a apple tree, rhubarb and roses all mixed in .I love our garden its always full of insects and birds and something growing all seasons . Also have a lot of herbs like lemon balm growing in spaces so it's actually not the biggest amount of weeding .Always a bonus
Give the neighbours some produce always welcome and enjoy your space .

I've been considering doing the same with our front garden, which until last week was rampant with brambles.

I've already partially planted an edible native hedge (so far have rowan, hawthorn & hazel, non native walnut & have wild plum & cherry saplings I've grown from collected stones).

@Cityvillagegardener do a mix of perennial and veg. We have a couple of step over apples. Do a wigwam mix of sweet peas and beans which looks fab. And chard - rainbow lights

I love this idea. We've just added some step over apples to our front garden as there is no room at the back. The blossom is pretty and they are so low they won't block light to our front windows

I'm not sure I'd do a mixed wigwam because sweet peas are mildly toxic (and some people might have a more pronounced reaction). I know they look different but mistakes could easily happen, especially if you're picking at mangetout stage.

Mrs Bucket is in the building!

It's your garden OP do what you want with it. It's not like you're dumping old white goods on it or sticking in a hot tub with some pink flamingos and a bar!

Late to the thread but I just wanted to add my voice to those saying do it.

This was completely normal where I grew up. My Dad was a keen gardener who grew nearly all of our veg. In the back garden we had a small lawn and a few flowers but the rest was fruit and veg. The front garden was entirely a vegetable patch.

We were not the only ones. Many, if not most, of our neighbours used at least some of their garden for veg. In fact, when my uncle, who lived a few doors down, decided to turn his front garden in to a lawn everyone thought he was being a bit weird, including his wife! He grew this lawn that was like a shrine, as in you were not allowed to walk on it or play on it, it was just for looking at. Their next door neighbour had his whole front garden planted with brussel sprouts which was considered much more sensible behaviour. Uncle was judged the eccentric one!

I honestly had no idea that people from elsewhere might find this strange until I had some friends from University come to stay in the holidays and they were flabbergasted to see vegetables in people's front gardens.

Do go for it I think it is a lovely idea.

Go for it. If anyone mutters, murmur "food security"! In our small town we have a group who have turned all town planters into perennials/herbs/tomatoes - it's highly attractive and I know where to go if I want fennel/parsley/chives! And we also have a great group in the county who teach primary and secondary pupils how to grown things on spare bits of land (yes, lucky to have spare bits of land, some quite small).

Oh do that's lovely! My DGPs bought a house with acres of land because my DGF loved gardening in particularly growing fruits and vegetables. They had a bit of lawn for the DGC and a bit with flowers. He often mentioned it was a shame they didn't have a proper front garden to grow more.

You are not allowed high brick walls but are you allowed anything else, such as fences or plants and if so, is it to a specified height limit? It would be easy to grow some screening plants along the front if allowed. Even a low evergreen hedge at the front can be an attractive feature and would provide a break in the view to the vegetable garden.