How do you make use of the space around your house? Is it a cheery welcome for visitors, a showcase of the seasons and the delights of the natural world? Or, more likely, is it a place for bins and cars? Built-up areas with small front gardens are more likely to ignore their potential, but leafier neighbourhoods do not fare much better: the focus is on privacy, exclusion and excessive neatness.”
The British see themselves as a “nation of gardeners”, and 3 million new enthusiasts have emerged since the first lockdown, according to the Horticultural Trades Association. But one in three British front gardens have no plants, while one in four have been buried completely under paving slabs. This isn’t only bad for wildlife, it can actually impact your mental health as well as that of your neighbours.
