This is now an unusual sight – a front garden with plants growing in it. In recent years many homeowners in Greenford have paved over the area in front of their houses in order to park their cars there. This has had a number of unforeseen circumstances, in particular an increase in the amount of rainwater running off into the sewage system. It has meant the loss of habitat for a range of small mammals including hedgehogs and the bird population has suffered through a lack of insects, seeds and berries. The Ealing Front Garden Project has suggested that a lawn and shrubs could absorb vibrations and noise from passing traffic, reducing their impact. In my opinion one of the worst things about this trend is that it has made almost every street look sterile and dull. If you don’t want to care for a garden why buy one?

Images and text ©Albertina McNeill 2012. Please do not reproduce without permission. All rights reserved. Do not add any of these images to Pinterest or similar sites as this will be regarded as a violation of copyright.

12 Apr This entry was published on April 12, 2012 at 10:25 pm. It’s filed under Places and tagged April 2012, birds, blog, Ealing, environment, garden, Greenford, heritage, home, local, London, nature, noise, photo365, photography, photos, postaday, road, society, traffic, water, weather, wildlife. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.