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!

I'd always go for adding some plants. Just plant something low maintenance or pop in some bedding a couple of time a year.

Please have flowerbeds!

Apart from it being better for wildlife and paved gardens contributing to urban flooding risk, it looks so much better. I had to visit the street my DGPs lived on, having not been there for 20 years. The houses originally only had narrow driveways/garages for one car. They all had beautiful gardens with trees, privet hedges and mature shrubs - magnolias, cherry trees, rhododendrons, even a huge monkey puzzle tree. All but one garden had been cut down and replaced with block paving and concrete. All the fences and hedges gone. It looked like a giant, grey car park. So depressing.

It wasn't even necessary. There was plenty of room for on street parking, you could fit 2/3 cars between the original driveways

Another vote for plants, there are lots of varieties which take little maintenance.

@orangenasturtium

Please have flowerbeds!

Apart from it being better for wildlife and paved gardens contributing to urban flooding risk, it looks so much better. I had to visit the street my DGPs lived on, having not been there for 20 years. The houses originally only had narrow driveways/garages for one car. They all had beautiful gardens with trees, privet hedges and mature shrubs - magnolias, cherry trees, rhododendrons, even a huge monkey puzzle tree. All but one garden had been cut down and replaced with block paving and concrete. All the fences and hedges gone. It looked like a giant, grey car park. So depressing.

It wasn't even necessary. There was plenty of room for on street parking, you could fit 2/3 cars between the original driveways

Sad, isn't it? It's the same where my parents live, and it almost becomes a domino effect because people who don't have a driveway, struggle to park outside their house as 'next door' has a car in their drive and a 2nd they need to park somewhere else - so not to block their own drive, they take up other people's spots, and it becomes a never-ending nightmare.

Unless the drive is big enough for 2 or 3 cars, but mostly where they live, the drives only fit one car.

We have mexican orange blossom in planters in our driveway. They were planted six years ago and then left to do their own thing. They’re completely neglected and thrive on it. They’re about two foot tall.