juliet & neal mcdonald
Driven by their love of gardening and a horror
at the ecological damage that humankind
has inflicted on our environment, Juliet and
Neal McDonald decided to demolish the front
driveway they inherited when they bought
their west London 1930s semi and replace it
with a flower garden.
Around here most people have paved over
their front lawns to gain some parking,’ says
Neal. ‘We’re doing the opposite and even
though it means we’ll have to pay to leave our
car in the street we think it’s worth the small
financial hit.’
56 - www.refurbandrestore.co.uk
‘With so many city gardens used for parking
it means that birds, bees and butterflies have
lost much-needed habitats,’ remarks Juliet.
‘Too much concrete has an adverse impact
on humans, too, adding to stress and anxiety
whilst a flower garden does the opposite.
Now when we open our front door, we’ll
experience a calming effect each and every
day!’
The couple hired Nova Outdoor Solutions
to do the demolition and hard-landscaping
and to minimise the dust and noise asked
them if they could utilise as much of the
old substrate as possible as a base for the
new tiles. ‘Luckily the substrate was in good
condition,’ says Neal. ‘Otherwise the stability
of the tiles we had chosen for a path may
have been compromised.’
The plan was to create a large rectangular
border that would allow for an impressive
display of flowers. The bed would incorporate
some of the plants that were previously in
a raised bed to the left of the concrete-slab
driveway, but would be substantially added to
with a display of roses, alliums, poppies and
peonies.