The mistakes I made when turning my front garden into a driveway
According to a recent survey by the RHS, a quarter of front gardens here in the UK are now totally paved over, with 4.5 million of them containing no plants at all. While that seems pretty sad, I do get it – after all, we make up one of those households. We ripped out the pretty front garden that once contributed so much to the cottage charm of our home to make way for our driveway ideas instead.
I didn’t really want the front garden to go – in fact, it was one of the few things doing the house justice when we first bought it. The lady who had lived in the house for the past 50 years had no need for a car, preferring to get around on her bicycle, but for us, a two-car household with young children, a driveway really was a necessity.
A few months after moving in, we began work on the new driveway and we now have a gravelled space on which to park – while I can’t say it is as pretty as the garden that once stood there, it definitely hasn’t stripped the house of its charm completely. That said, it could definitely do more to boost its kerb appeal. With this in mind, I reached out to the experts for their advice on how I could have turned my garden in into a driveway without losing its visual appeal. Here’s what they had to say.
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1. Retain some areas of planting
We were keen to get as much space as possible for our two cars when turning the front garden into a driveway and as such left very little in the way of greenery, save for the hedge that forms the boundary between us and our neighbours. There is also a very ill-planned flowerbed at the front of the house that is hidden from view most of the time when the cars are parked on the drive.
According to Guy Wall, head of marketing at GCL Products, neglecting to include planted areas was our first error. “These projects are always best when considered as a rounded design project rather than just simply making a place to park. Keeping areas for planting and greenery are essential to help this look natural rather than like an urban NCP car park.
“Keeping narrow borders, compact trees or shrubs can help to break up the very hard-looking surfaces (brick, render, flooring surface) and appeal to virtually all,” continues Guy. “As an added bonus, these plants and planted areas can be a real benefit to driveway drainage.”
Guy has extensive knowledge on sustainable drainage, gardens and landscaping as well as some interest and experience in solar and renewable technology. Resin bound gravel, wet pour rubber surfacing and permeable surfacing are his specialities.
2. Ensure you combine gravel with a retention grid
“With gravel, there is a huge amount of choice over the colour, grade and texture of your stone which means it can be blended to uniquely match or complement virtually any surrounding or property,” picks up Guy Wall. “Gravel grid driveways are also permeable when laid on a suitable sub-base and therefore require little or no planning considerations.
“However, we specifically don’t recommend loose gravel driveways as these have a number of flaws, despite being attractive and permeable,” continues Guy. “They’re a pain to maintain. Take it from one who has made the mistake by putting in 180mm of rounded 8-10mm gravel on his driveway years ago – it was the worst move I ever made. Gravel went everywhere, including taking a big chunk out of one of the panoramic front windows. The cars beached and got stuck and once grass had set in, it looked a state.”
So what does Guy suggest we should do going forward to put the issue right?
“Gravel retention grids solve practically all the drawbacks of loose gravel. Giving you a solid surface, the grids can be filled either flush, to the top of the grid with the grid pattern visible, or slightly overfilled (best with angular gravel which will disguise the grid to the point of invisibility.) The trade off with the latter is that it will require occasional raking or cause minor migration of the gravel. Usually very cost effective, this strikes a great balance between price and quality of solution.”
3. Consider resin bound stone for colour choice
While there are obviously options when it comes to keeping gravel looking neat and tidy (and I sorely wish I had considered these earlier), if you want to create a driveway with easy-to-maintain kerb appeal, resin bound stone might be a better option.
“Resin bound stone is probably the ultimate for this as there’s simply endless combinations of colour and textures you can blend together,” explains Guy Wall. “Marble, quartz, granite, flint, rounded, semi-rounded, angular – there’s literally millions of combinations you can make.
“The surface itself is incredibly hardwearing, with an expected lifespan far in excess of 25 years and you can have patterns and shapes embedded into it. This means you can both complement and contrast the surroundings perfectly to suit your project. Additionally, there’s no loose stone and it is easy to maintain, with just jet washing required to keep weeds from growing in the tiny gaps.
“Do be aware resin bound stone should be laid on a free-draining base, not overlaid on top of impermeable surfaces such as old tarmac as the water will soak through the upper surface and sit in the space between the two, ultimately cracking and breaking up during cold weather. The drawback is resin driveway cost – it can be at the upper end relative to other surfaces.”
4. Don’t assume you can’t have grass on your driveway
I have to admit, grass was not a material we ever considered when turning the garden into a driveway – but according to Guy Wall, it can make a great option for those seeking a parking space with kerb appeal.
“Grass with a retention grid (such as the X-Grid from GCL Products) is a great choice. You can create a totally natural-looking, fortified surface with just grass,” reveals Guy. “This can be incredibly useful where large swathes of grass are wanted and leaves you able to use vehicles on it without leaving any trace.
“You’ll need a, solid well draining sub-base beneath and you can fill the panels with a soil/seed mix and then simply let the grass do what it does,” continues Guy. “Your maintenance is weeding and mowing, as per usual with lawn maintenance. There’s a gestation period with this surface, as the grass needs some time to mature, but once it’s done it looks fantastic.”
5. Choose materials and planting that complement the house
The one thing I think we did well when creating the driveway was choosing the gravel with the colour of the house and its surroundings in mind. We went for a creamy buff shade and it sits nicely with the colour of the house render and brickwork that make up the facade.
“We always recommend keeping tones natural and complementary to help with kerb appeal,” says Guy Wall.
If you are keen to incorporate some planted areas into your driveway design, take the time to think about both form and colour when selecting your greenery – it should be chosen to suit both the house as well as the shape and overall tones within the new driveway if you want the whole thing to look blended and cohesive.
6. Design a lighting scheme that highlights the best bits
We gave zero thought to our driveway lighting ideas – this is one area that really would have boosted its appearance and something I plan on addressing soon. The only light we have at the front of the house is a solitary pendant hanging in the porch.
“Kerb appeal benefits greatly from thoughtful lighting. Exterior wall lights or discreet garden lighting can transform how the front of a property looks and feels,” explains James Kendall, operations director at KES Lighting & Home. “Lighting can highlight architectural features, define pathways and create a warm welcome, all of which contribute to a sense of quality and care before someone even steps inside.
“Industry sources suggest that good kerb appeal as a whole can increase a home’s perceived value by perhaps 5–10 percent compared with a similar property lacking that level of presentation,” adds James. “While it is hard to isolate how much of that uplift comes solely from lighting, exterior illumination is consistently cited as one of the smaller-cost, high-impact upgrades, especially when combined with tidy landscaping, a fresh front door, clean paths and well-maintained planting.”
Shop driveway lights
Amazon
DAWALIGHT GU10 LED Bollard Lights
Dot these mains-powered bollard lights up or around your new driveway and watch it come to life once darkness falls – they would also be great for lining a pathway.
Wayfair
Graphite Integrated LED Metal Well Light
Designed to be sunk into the ground, where they can safely be driven over, these neat LED lights are ideal for marking out driveways and walkways alike.
Argos
Garden by Sainsbury’s Solar Dancing Flame Torch
Perfect if you don’t want to call out an electrician to install your driveway lighting, these solar-powered stake lights rely on the sunlight to charge up.
As operations director at KES Lighting & Home, James Kendall is well placed to offer expert guidance on all aspects of home lighting. James understands just how transformative great garden lighting can be, and has the experience and expertise to transform any space.
7. Don’t rush your choice of driveway boundary
And, finally, many of the decisions surrounding the garden-to-driveway project were made in haste, so keen were we to get our cars off the road, where they were annoying our new village neighbours. One of these rushed choices was the fence that now separates part of the driveway from the road beyond.
The old front garden featured a neat, low hedge, with a pretty blue wrought iron gate opening up to a pathway that led to the front door – the cheap lap panel fencing we opted for is nowhere near as charming.
FAQs
Is planning permission required to turn a front garden into a driveway?
If you are planning on creating a driveway from your front garden, there are a few things you’ll need to bear in mind before getting started if you don’t want to fall foul of the law.
“Most people focus on the landscaping when converting a front garden to a driveway – the planning and highways side is where people most often get caught out, and it’s more complex than it looks,” warns chartered town planner Michael Okubajo.
“There are actually two separate consent processes, and confusing them is a common and costly mistake,” continues Michael. “Planning permission and highway consent are not the same thing. For the driveway surface itself, permitted development rights mean you won’t need planning permission if you use a permeable material, such as gravel, porous asphalt, permeable block paving, or if surface water drains to a lawn or border within your boundary. Use an impermeable surface over five square meters with no on-site drainage, and you’ll need a full planning application.
“But here’s what catches people out: even if your driveway doesn’t need planning permission, you still need separate highway authority consent for a dropped kerb. Without it, driving across the pavement is unlawful, and enforcement action can follow.”
Michael is a UK Transport Planning Consultant and Chartered Town Planner (MRTPI) and founder of Capital Transport Planning, with over a decade of experience working on infrastructure and development projects across the UK. His background in both local government and private consultancy gives him a practical understanding of how transport planning, policy, and infrastructure influence property development and investment potential.
Even if you feel sure that driveway planning permission won’t be required to turn your garden into a parking space, make sure you check with your local authority first to avoid any nasty surprises later down the line.