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.

Glad you’re going for big rocks!

We live on a cul-de-sac and have a similar issue (corner plot) - put a couple of boulders out ‘for decoration’. Saw the neighbour’s daughter (who has previously ran over plants etc and laughed in my face) rip the bumper off her precious little Audi- funnily enough, problem has gone away and she’s learned how to park!

Yes I believe it has to be luminous below window height whilst we are meant to check our mirrors not everyone does. I much prefer staying the right side of who's right whose wrong. Whilst I agree wholeheartedly concrete balls are the way forward id rather OP didn't get a big bill for car damages.

very heavy things are a very good idea..
but first you need to put something innocuous ie. a barrel on the corner of your land and document telling everyone not to mess with it. Once they have all hit it once or twice, you fill it with concrete and wait for the fun to start...

Can you put in some cheap border edging?

Something like this
https://www.diy.com/departments/4-x-smart-garden-scroll-decorative-fence-path-border-lawn-plant-beds-edging/5050642031264_BQ.prd

I also agree you are wise to pick big rocks. Our private estate h as various things - concrete bollards in some places - even those are sometimes knocked over by big lorries despite metal inside them and massive stones which no one dare drive over.

Camera trained on the drive way - report for trespass/criminal damage anyone who drives on and causes damage. Is there anyone of 'narrowing' the entryway at height, so it isn't as easy for them to get into the driveway?
We have people turning in our driveway and get fed up with the damage - this is despite it being a very quiet road with a turning place a few metres beyond our driveway!

OP, based on how you describe your neighbours, I would not escalate things! It sounds like they would retaliate and it would be worse than just ruining your garden and bricks.

I’d put big rocks at the end of the flower bed closest to the pavement and then get those folding bollards along the drive. Good luck to them trying it then!

My late husband put a plastic chain across our driveway. That was cut.

Then he put a thick metal chain in its place. We got back from work and someone had taken boltcutters to it.

[ETA Flower pots might work, but the miscreants likely won't care.]

We thought about a gate, but I now have my husband's car parked in the driveway and my battered old campervan parked across in front of the driveweay, much to the displeasure of the white van driver who sometimes spends the night at his girlfriend's place opposite.

One night all the neighbourhood was out because of a disturbance. White van man to me, in an accusatory manner, pointing to my van:"That thing never moves!"

Then, pointing to the car:"Neither does THAT!"

"It does. You just don't see it." (I'm now mostly retired and the first two years after husband died, I barely left the house.)

Any time I take the car out, I just move the van back across the bottom of the driveway.

I'm just waiting for white van man to complain to me again...The last time I wasn't coping. I'm doing better now.

I would do all of the sensible things advise here but just for the satisfaction, just once for each regular offender, I would put a screw to drive over. Not as obvious as spikes, totally deniable.

large, heavy flowerpots. Concrete ones that will obviously dent or scratch any vehicle that hits them.

you can use masonry paint to make them look like terracotta.

if you think you might want to move them, fill them with lightweight foamed concrete building blocks. Each is light enough to lift by hand, but a pile of them is heavy. They are an insulating product, much lighter than brick or solid concrete. you could actually use a wooden or plastic tub, but people will be less worried about hitting it. that's why they don't mind hitting dustbins

also you can park your own car in the way.

you can buy the blocks individually, or have a pallet delivered. go to the shed and pick one up to see.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Single-3-6N-Aerated-Block---100mm/p/177976

We had the same problem with no turning options in our street and we had some great big difficult to move rocks put either side at the bottom.

It's achieved what we wanted- people can still get on the drive to turn but too close to the edges and their car gets scraped. If a rock is moved we just put it back.

Make sure they are massive or pile them up if they're not.

We have a small turning circle outside our home. Delivery vans, who have usually been to my neighbours, seem to think it’s a free for all to turn round on. It’s wrecked the tarmac having big transits go round with their wheels on full lock. The long wheel based ones don’t fit round it so they just drive on the lawn or flowers. If I park my car on the drive they try and reverse in. We have a large boulder to try and stop people driving onto flowers. Quite a few vans have reversed onto it and damaged their vehicles (one or two have actually ended up banked on the top!) then the drivers have grumbled at us because we’ve damaged their vans with our boulder (on our property!). So I feel your pain. And I think we’ll have to put gates up.

Do you have a quarry locally? You can get some fairly massive rocks for reasonable prices from them.

Some houses near me have signs that saying "no turning" at the front of their drive

https://www.bmgardenbuildings.co.uk/3-11-x-1-4-forest-linear-long-wooden-garden-planter-with-wheels

Could you stretch to a couple raised beds or taller pots, a few bags of postcrete, ask around for blocks, and top with compost and flowers? They'll weigh loads, so unlikely to get nicked and liable to damage cars driven into rhem.

Pre-warn nice neighbours and any who gossip that you've got really into gardening, are worried containers will be stolen, so have weighted them with cement. IE try and make sure people know theyre hefty, as opposite neighbour losing a bumper would be v satisfying but also not worth the hassle.

You can’t hide something that would cause injury, even though they are trespassing. You can put large rocks or concrete or metal bollards or a fence and electric gate. If you go for the rocks, I would paint them white to make sure they are visible. You are aiming to protect your land, not cause damage. And do get out there and tell the taxi that this behaviour needs to stop.

I think you'd be better with one or two of those flip down bollards people use for security. Think they're called something like penguin bollards? And make lots of noises to the neighbours about the fact you're doing it for security as you've heard of lots of car thefts lately so as not to piss them off.

Why would she get a bill? THEY would be entering HER property uninvited, she's not placing obstructions on public land.

Personally, I'd just put gates up.

Could you get a large toddler-sized doll and put it standing in the flowerbed?

Do it, they have no one to blame but themselves

I would use the more gossipy neighbours to your advantage. Make a song and dance about how you are going to decorate the front with the new rocks. Add a couple of other decorative features close by that do not stop people using the drive in themselves to add to the narrative about just “making the place look pretty”.
Then hopefully that will put off the neighbours who want to spread a juicy story and reduce the risk of vengeful behaviour.

Gate? Chain?

Definitely get some lockable gates, then they have no choice. I wouldn't do anything that could damage their cars.