New driveway - with or without flowerbeds?

[CoolKitkat]

About to get a new driveway done, block paving. Those drives with flowers or shrubs look really nice and increase kerb appeal, but am just wondering if it's more hassle than it's worth? Not just along the sides of the drive, but ones with the bed along the front of the house next to the front door ...

There is a small tree/shrub at the front boundary of the entrance to the house, so not sure if the flower bed would be seen anyway - unless you enter the property. It's also quite shady out front, so not sure if any plants would survive, and then just look dreary and messy. Also don't want to house lots of insects out there to crawl inside when we open the windows - but I'm not sure if that's realistically anything to be concerned about

Would appreciate thoughts on if you had yours done and regret getting flowerbeds installed, or vice versa? Thank you for sharing!

Do you have a diagram? Regardless, I am all for increasing spaces for all wildlife. You can get some low maintenance shrubs and leave it like that, or add bulbs and perinials.

I'm not very good with diagrams and wouldn't know how to add it here. I prefer some greenery, but I'm not green-fingered and worried it'll just look a bit 'dead'. Think I need to research more about the low maintenance plants that won't grow too high, that might make most sense rather than flowers.

It depends on how much space you have on your drive. Drives often look really flat or dull without some shape or structure to them. If you need the parking space you may not have much option.
I'd go for some shape but that's just my preference

Mexican orange bloosom is easy and neat, depending on space size. Wood anemones are lovely in spring.

If you have space for plants ( and you can look up plants which do well in shade ) I would get them - would look - just my thought ) so much nicer than just block paving. To be honest I don't think plants are going to make your house infested with insects, They just won't

Absolutely plants! Otherwise it sounds like you'd have a front garden that is entirely concrete - plants make everything better.

Definitely plants! Fully paved driveways are so bland and give a house zero kerb appeal.

Much better to have some flowerbeds for drainage too. Paved driveways cause issues with water run off and the wider drains system. Including flower beds means some rain water goes straight into the ground.

The only insects likely to come in are the odd wasp or bumble-bee, and if the window is left open they find their way out.

Another vote for Choisya (Mexican orange blossom).

I've been liking Skimmia 'Finchy' for shady spots, or ferns like Polystichum polyblepharum if you need lower height.

I think driveways which are a mix of lawn or planting and the driveway look so, so much nicer, as well as the environmental and drainage factors.

Definitely plants - so much better for the environment

If shaddy, sweet box / saccracocha (sp) is an evergreen shrub that can be kept small and smells devine in winter.

I’ve a similar sounding driveway and have a very small buxus hedge (

Thanks everyone, seems as though the flowerbeds win!

Thanks for the suggestions for the plants, I think I might be able to find something low maintenance that provides some greenery, although it will just be a narrow bed.

It's not a huge drive, just about space for 2 cars with the bedding as well, but probably it will be worth it to factor this in to the design.

Sounds like you’re persuaded but just in case, fully paved driveways with no planting devalue a house. You need some softness between hardsurface driveway and hard surface house wall.

Can I jump in and ask would the mexican orange blossom take in clay soil? We have part block paving and then a grass verge between us and next door , but it just looks so dull. There is a small hedge (only planted the end of last year) between the grass verge and the road. I’m thinking of adding a boarder between the grass and the block paving but like OP i am not at all green fingered and it needs to be low maintenance.

Yes, they're often in lists of plants suitable for clay soil. I have heavy clay and all my Mexican orange blossom plants are doing well, plus yes, they're very low maintenance.

I have block paving (there when I moved in) with no flower bed next to the front door and I hate it. I have a trough there, but it would be infinitely easier to have a bed that I could put something in in the ground and not have to worry about watering it all summer.

100% with!

Can't stand fully paved driveways. There's quite a few round here. You've had some lovely suggestions. Can you plant along the front of the drive too? Do you have a wall or hedge at the front?

I don’t like fully blocked drives, they look like public car parks.

Flowerbeds soften it up and look nicer.

We have lavender in our front garden and it grows like crazy. I just have to remember to cut it back in autumn but other than that it doesn't need much care. The bees love it.

Glad you’ve decided with! We’ve bought a house with a fully paved driveway and I hate it (the driveway......love the rest of the place, obvs!) I am going to spend money to tear it up at some point - it was a definite trade off for me in terms of buying the house.

There will be the entrance to the drive on one side, and on the other, there are a couple of small trees and a straggly dying bush in between ... I'm not removing those as it provides a bit of privacy. I might need to remove the middle bush and put a thicker shrub there I think.

The mexican blossom seems that it will grow fairly high/wide; I think I'll look for things that have a natural low height so I don't have to keep pruning.

I was thinking about planters instead, but from past experience I have concerns that they're more likely to wither and die? May be because they need more regular watering.

Appreciate all the advice - agree that I don't really want a car park - trying to balance it without adding to my list of chores