What is Urban Greening?

Front garden paving

I was inspired by a talk at a Royal Horticultural Show earlier this year about urban greening. We heard about the effect of concreting or bricking over drives and how it affects the movement of rain and how flooding can occur. In fact there are local authority regulations related to the maximum area of any front garden can be covered, you should look at your local county council’s website.

We were shown photographs of gardens before and after and were impressed at how much more interesting drives could look with just a little design and planting.

Being aware and taking action to reduce the risk of flooding to property may even bring insurance premiums down. To find out more about how you can prepare and protect your property from flooding, visit the Environment Agency ‘How can I be prepared?’ web page.

Could urban greening be an advantage to your property? The RHS have a website page with that information, it is in print form as well.

Our drive is paved with gravel between the paving and we have grown thyme from seed and planted it this autumn. Nothing much to see at the moment but we’ll add images next summer to show the difference. Other plants we could use are bugle, thyme serpyllum, creeping jenny.

Common Name: Creeping jenny
Genus: Lysimachia
Species: nummularia
Skill Level: Beginner
Exposure: Full sun, Partial shade
Hardiness: Hardy
Soil type: Well-drained/light, Moist, Boggy
Height: 8cm
Spread: 90cm
Time to plant seeds: March to May 
Time to divide plants: September to May 
Flowering period: May to August

Creeping jenny is a useful plant all around the garden. The prostrate, creeping stems make excellent ground cover around pond margins and, being evergreen, are useful for concealing the edges of pond liners. They also infiltrate pondside plants or those growing in a damp border, filling gaps and providing winter interest after other perennials have died down

www.ourfrontgarden.com is an ongoing record of the renovation and care of a front garden in a garden city in the UK.

Val Reynolds, Editor