Putting gravel down on grass verge

Aye Bosun

Hi, hopefully someone might be able to help me.

I have grass verge outside my house gates or better described as a mud pool this time of year. There are a few GAA pitches and a school very close to me, so a lot people parking on street in the morning and weekends. The road is mental for parking and people are always park up on the grass verge and destroying it. I have tried putting large stones on the curb to deter people from parking on the grass and to just use the road and give the grass a chance to regrow but they are just moved onto the footpath and people park there regardless. The road is wide enough for cars to be parked on both sides of the road with 2 way traffic still able to use the road, so no idea why they insist on parking on the grass verge but they do!

As a result of this the pathway is always covered in mud and the grass verge looks very unsightly.

I was thinking of putting down gravel on the verge, at least that would clean the place up a bit and reduce the amount of mud around my entrance and on the footpath.

Can anyone foresee any problems with this approach?

Would i need permission as it's not on my property?

benjamin d

I would put a few small painted posts at the edge of the grass. If you just push them into the grass they're no less removable than large stones but people are much less likely to disturb them.
Putting gravel down means your grass is permanently gone so unless you're happy with that I wouldn't do it. The gravel will probably get just as muddy anyway.

ThisRegard

Posts seems to be the way most people approach it. With gravel you're almost encouraging parking, plus the grass and weeds will eventually grow up through it, even if you put a barrier beneath it, and the gravel will just be worn away.

Parchment

My parents had the same thing. There were not cars parking on it regularly but there were some trees there outside there wall with a gap, cars often pulled in so someone could take a phone call etc. The place was churned into a muddy mess.

My dad ripped up what grass was there (left the trees) and put gravel down there - a light coat. Its much neater there now but he did say it was council property and he was just hoping nobody said anything!

Gumbo

A few houses. Ear me had the same problem. They put the small little picket fences around the grass verge (small as in only about 300mm high).

Others actually planted trees in the verge and in fairness, it worked on all of them.

SarahMollie

As you've said, this is outside your gate. While unsightly and annoying, its ultimately the councils responsibility to repair the lawn and prevent future damage. Have you asked them to do anything about it?

My parents had similar issues in the past as their house is within parking radius of a major stadium and people would park in your lap if they thought they'd get away with it. Council ultimately put reflective posts, about 2ft in height on the corners of all the grass verges and its made a huge difference.

Aye Bosun

Thanks for the replies folks, the council has been useless..mine is not the only house suffering this problem, numerous complaints have been made to them and no action taken. I was speaking to a neighbour over my lunch today and he said he's just going to put some concrete down on his verge and be done with it..might see how he gets on first and follow suit if there is no repercussions!!

ThisRegard

Concrete is just creating a another car space outside of this house for anyone to use, it's not the way I'd go anyway, but then again, I don't know the area etc.

SarahMollie

Aye Bosun wrote: »

Thanks for the replies folks, the council has been useless..mine is not the only house suffering this problem, numerous complaints have been made to them and no action taken. I was speaking to a neighbour over my lunch today and he said he's just going to put some concrete down on his verge and be done with it..might see how he gets on first and follow suit if there is no repercussions!!

You might find the council suddenly care about people pouring concrete on a grass verge without proper authority and possibly without the knowledge to do a good job (ie something that won't subside and create a public liability issue). I personally wouldnt dream of doing something like that, its not worth the risk to yourself.

The most I'd do is stick some reflective posts in the ground around the edges of the grass to block cars getting up there in the first place.

Gumbo

It's also possible that the council have not taken in charge this area. And to. Engineer, I wouldn't waste council time with it it either, it's a minor issue that can be sorted out locally.
I would personally decorate the area with flowers and a small picket fence as I outlined above.

yellowbelly

Just really looking for info on the grass verge does the council own the grass verge outside your home. My neighbour has three cars we have a shared drive so he won't widen his drive but parks up on the grass verge and has it worn down from parking on it. Lately he has filled it with ugly looking hardcore so he can continue using it as a car park spot. The grass verge is ugly looking and there is weeds growing up through the concrete. Also some of the neighbours are parking on the footpath.