Off street car parking is important, but at what expense?
Should we give up green space for parking space? Can we combine both?
The environment relies on natural groundwater drainage to take away the excess when it rains, when we clean the car. By 'paving' with permeable gravel, natural drainage can still occur. Small trees can be planted at the edge of parking spaces, allowing for ease of access, but still sucking greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. Consider espaliered fruit trees along the edge of a narrow driveway.
Plants that can be planted underneath where we park your car include: creeping jenny Lysimachia nummularia; bugle, Ajuga reptans; and thymes.
Tough plants that need little care and attention will do well in a 'shared' space. Try a selection of trees such as Magnolia, Malus, Prunus or Pyrus; shrubs such as Lavender, Choisya, Camellia; perennials such as geraniums, anemones, phormium, and ornamentla grasses such as stipa tenuissima. Trees are best at recycling carbon dioxide from the air, so check their final height and spread and plant as many as you can reasonably fit.
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New planning consent regulations for hard surfacing your front garden are being introduced.
It is a positive response to climate change. With increased flood events, we need to plan now for how we can stop flooding from damaging our homes, shops, schools, factories and offices. This new reg will help us at home. (Further regulations will follow for the development of commercial and public spaces.)
It means that you will have to justify why you cannot use permeable surfacing such as gravel or compacted hard core as your driveway. Cobbles can be used, but will need to be laid with sand, as opposed to being mortared. This will save you money as well as the possibility of your driveway or local roadsides flooding. It also gives you the opportunity to sow wild flower seeds into the cracks, and grow hardy, crushable herbs such as thyme around the edges.
It will also be a boost to the overall water quality. When water is naturally filtered through the subsoil, any pollutants are screened out. This means that by the time the water reaches our rivers and water supply points, it is cleaner and healthier than it would have been.
Water cycles through the clouds, to the ground, to rivers, lakes and the sea, and then evaporates back up into the air. It is important for the water to be as clean as possible as it flows through the cycle. We have all heard about the acid rain that destroys forests when it falls to earth.
We must do what we can to help our planet. Digging up some asphalt is a good start in allowing the earth to do its job, purifying our water supply and saving us from flooding.
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