To put spikes in my front driveway flower bed.

[PurpleBugz]

I live on a road where very few houses have driveways. This means there are cars parked both sides of the road. Cars regularly pull into my driveway to allow other to pass/turn around.

I used to have a gravel driveway and the constant cars turning made a massive dip. It was filled in periodically but a reoccurring problem. I saved up and block paved my driveway. it’s got sort of decorative raised brick along one side and I’ve planted nice flowers down the other side. Before it was set people turning on it messed up the brickwork on one side and they have just repeatedly driven over the flowerbed and ruined it.

Every morning I watch one particular taxi turn on my drive and most days he hits the bricks amd they are getting loose. I’ve gone and stood there when I know he’s due and point to what he's doing to make it very clear I’m not happy. This took courage for me as it’s a neighbour from down the street and I don’t cope well with confrontation. He has continued to to it. I’m having the day from hell for other reasons and I just watched another neighbour churn up the flowers with his massive van- he lives in the house opposite and does it every day too. I stood angry at the window with my arms up in a gesture of “what the?! I can see you” he looked directly at me and just carried on and unashamedly parked on his own drive opposite. I’m scared to speak to that family as they are loud and agressive regularly vandalise cars that park near their driveway and I think they were raided by police for drugs a few months ago or it may have been next door to them.

Probably bimonthly on bin day my bin gets knocked over by cars reversing onto my drive and knocking it over. Not so bad when it’s empty but if it’s before the bin lorry has been I’ve had to deal with rubbish bags soaked from rain missed by binmen/ripped open by cats.

Would I be unreasonable to put spikes in my flower bed and on the bricks at the other side? If I do this I will probably damage at least a couple car tyres a day as it happens so much each day. As the main culprits are the taxis work vans and Amazon/delivery drivers it will impact their income.

Do you have a car? Can you just park right at the end of your drive for a few days?

Big rocks but you might be able to get some for free from Freecycle or freegle.
It doesn’t have to be rocks it could be lumps of concrete and then you paint them white. Lumps of concrete will almost certainly be available for free.
Coukd be a large log. Putting a post in is really easy with postcrete.

An example in the wild

I agree, you can’t please everyone and it’s not your job to.

Big decorative rock type thing but... something with a metal post up it that is buried, so instead of hitting a brick that moves they hit something concreted in that doesn't. That'll fuck up wheels and trims and so on. That will stop them doing it.

Friends of mine have big rocks which are placed on the ends of their front garden, specifically to stop this issue. Could you try that? Going over those would damage the car but they're easy to spot and also not particularly dangerous to people.

So we had this and bought some big planters and put them right next to the boundary. Stopped the problem immediately. You can buy cheap plastic ones for a cheap quick fix or more expensive nice ones. Basically it doesn't have to cost much and with some flowers (also cheap eg from B&M or Home Bargains garden centres) it looks decent.

Keep an eye on marketplace for metal gates coming up for sale then you just need two posts and two bags of postcrete and a spade!

You can’t do this on the verge beside a road. That property isn’t theirs until the hedge. There’s an arsehole on my country road who has put the most jagged rocks along the grass verge outside his property. If a car does get damaged in them he’s liable. On your own driveway however you can do as you please. I’d put some concreted flower pots at the entrance and tie a chain across.

A friend of mine had this problem - except the culprits here were neighbours who knew he didn't have a car instructing their workmen/delivery men to park in his drive, sometimes all day.

In the end he bought a very cheap about-to-be-condemned car off one of his relatives and permanently parked it in his drive.

I would love to but I'm very aware there are lots of neighbour disputes on my road. I get on well with my neighbours as we haven't had any issues. Next door is a lovely guy but I don't want to piss him off because he's really kinda scummy knows everything and everyone on the street and tells everybody else. I've tried to avoid saying it because I hate the stereotype of council tenants but the truth is im one of the few owners on this road in a bad area you don't choose o live here if you have other options for me I needed the bedrooms at the price the house was, it's got 3 bedrooms only worth slightly more than I sold a one bedroom for the other side of town. So next door is really lovely but some of his storied concern me they don't match up with how lovely he is to me I think he could switch. Same with upstairs they are newish and so far very nice avoiding the fall out over the drive when they don't do damage for me is worth it. Plus next door knows everyone and everyone's business it's a protective factor he likes me 😂

This is a really good idea

Could you dig out the flower bed, line it and make it into a long pond - then watch them try to get out of that. It wouldn't be obvious why you've done it.

Yes I do that whenever possible but due to no parking in the road I need the space on my drive for a second car when ex picks up the kids or the carer comes for my disabled son. Then moving the car means leaving kids alone in the house or getting them into the car just to move it and that's a lot of work with my disabled kiddo so often I just don't bother

You’re stuck aren’t you. I know you said you don’t like confrontation so can you be canny and ask the ones churning up your drive to be more careful? They might take it on board. Such a horrible thing to have to do though, trying to please people because you’re afraid of the backlash.

Thanks all. Im going to get some big rocks to put either side and do it the same weekend a replant the flowerbed again and trim the hedge and mow the lawn etc so it looks like just more doing it up rather than a keep the fuck off my land.

Then next winter if they keep knocking over my bin I will consider placing it at end of the drive filled with water and letting it freeze. Mwahaha

Good for you!

We bought large pieces of rock to put on the front of our garden. We also placed a couple of extra in the flower bed so it didn't look like we were ONLY doing it to stop cars using our front garden as extra road (and taking out my little hedge). I don't think we've taken paint of any cars or vans 😁

Before you put up anything (bollards, spikes, fence, heavy plant pots, etc), you need cameras.

Cameras for 'security': to capture anything that happens and any retaliation, threats, etc

Bollard in the middle of driveway entrance. Not expensive and will do the trick.

Cost about £70

Big heavy decorative rocks around the edge - good for wildlife and bad for sides of cars !

Just be mindful what ever you choose is within you're property boundary and visible at night. UK law states unmovable objects at the road side have flashing lights attached. I only say this as using a drive to manoeuvre whilst annoying I don't believe it is illegal how ever, causing damage to a vehicle is criminal damage. The same as damaging your flower beds is criminal damage but without photographic evidence you cannot prove who did this. The police actually spoke to one of my neighbours about concrete blocks in the center of his driveway between him and a neighbour because they weren't lit at night. They actually hit one themselves.

Wouldn't glow in the dark luminous paint on these impediments light them up? Surely folk will have rear reversing lights and will look in their mirrors and see the light!

I'd go with rocks will cause damage but you can put them where you want on your property. Placed to protect your plants.