Ideas needed for Front garden

[Thomzo]

How about some step over apples? Basically very short apple trees that you can step over (hence the name). You will need to prune them but I think they look lovely.

Bay, if you aren't too exposed to frost, makes a lovely, evergreen tree or hedge.

Rosemary to go with the lavender already suggested.

Don't forget the home-grown cut flowers, that should cheer up the neighbours. Daffs in spring, dahlias in summer.

Some onions, amongst other alliums, nobody will notice.

Chives are lovely when they flower, but they spread like weeds. They do help keep some aphids at bay.

Mint, in old terracotta pots. Very pretty and smells nice.

Oh, and stick a cute chicken ark on whatever grass is left. Sure to attract the attention of the nosies.

Zoe

[Jessiebean]

People around here don't seem to mind, in amongst many a front garden you will see rocket (aragula, roquette) or broadbeans, lettuce or broccoli...
We have a lovely Victorian park in town and there is often great clumps of curly leaf parsley in amongst the pansy display it looks very effective.
The pots in the strip mall in town often have deorative kale so maybe kale is an idea.
Or you could be like me and not give two hooting figs about what anyone else thinks and grow broadbean and bush pumpkins in the front. I think people around my suburb are used to there being broken beer bottles and old syringes in our garden (it used to be a bit of a scumbag hive) so any plant is a bit of a surprise!

[Keaniebean]

I totally dug up my front garden, i was so sick and tired of mowing the weeds. I get loads of people stopping to talk to me when I'm out there as what I'm doing is so unusual for a London front garden. But I have no other land avaliable to me as our back garden is only big enough for a very small chicken run and the washing line.

This was my front garden last summer. It was a total jungle, but looked great and we got loads of produce from it.



and this is it a few days ago.




I love the fact that it is quite small, even thogh I would love acres of land too, as it means I can change the look of it in a few days work. My husband has put in the raised beds over the winter months for me, I have dwarf fruit trees in pots, rubarb, herbs blackberrys, blueberrys and shove loads of flowers in wherever I can squeeze them in. Be brave, as long as its not full of rubbish, you can make loads of veg look good even in pots or small quantities.

[Big Al]

Hi Mon,

I think it depends on a couple of things really. How close are your neighbours? Do you care what they think? Do you want something in line with your self-sufficiency or something pretty to look at?

Personally, I have grown lots of fruit bushes in my front garden which wasn't popular with the neighbours. Occasionally some of them would then make snide comments and in the end it made me feel uncomfortable going out there even! But I got lots of jam and wine out of it When the fruit bushes became past their best, I dug them up and dug it all over. I now have three raised beds and plans for three more. Some of the neighbours have suddenly clicked because they recognize some of the vegetables. OK, I still get the impression they think I'm quirky, but I'm OK with that, and so are they when I give them a share of the goodies . The only 'problem' neighbour I have now is the stupid old hag next door and her middle-aged apron string swingers. So she doesn't get any free veg.

Just tell them you are proud to have had an asbo at every previous house you lived in....

[Millymollymandy]

KeanieBean I love your garden - especially the balloons that perfectly match the flowers! Well done for creating such a lovely looking space - certainly from that angle and presumably for anyone walking by the first thing you see is colour and flowers, not 'veg'. I can't imagine anyone being upset by that kind of mix.

[seasidegirl]

Keaniebean I love your garden. Even when it's empty it looks fab to me.
How uplifting this must be for the people who walk past.

[Keaniebean]

Thanks, its kind of you to say so.

It does tend to stand out round here, we live on an ex council estate and the front gardens have mostly stayed the same since they were put in in 1970! I cant bear it, I spend so much time looking out of my kitchen window so I wanted something nice to look at.

[jim]

Dear Keaniebean,

Looks lovely!

Love and Peace
Jim

[oldfella]

Well done you, and woud'nt it make a difference to the quality of life, if all the front gardens looked as wonderfull as yours.

[Thomzo]

Keaniebean, your garden is a real inspiration. Very pretty and abundant.

Can I ask what the edges in the first photo were made from? It looks a very pretty blue colour.

Zoe

[Millymollymandy]

They are funky looking pots Zoe. I love blue and most of my pots are that blue colour too but I really like those ones!

[Keaniebean]

The blue and black pots are actually those flexible storage things from IKEA I got them for a pound each a couple of years ago. They are made from the that stuff that they sell quite cheaply for growing spuds in at a ridiculous price. I think it's three containers for £15 or something astronomical like that.

Thanks for all the lovely comments, it inspires me to keep on with what I'm doing

[stonethrower]

fantastic garden Keanie . . . . shows what can be done

[Millymollymandy]

The blue and black pots are actually those flexible storage things from IKEA

I stand corrected - well they look like glazed pots in the photo! I must go and look at the IKEA catalogue!