How do I stop people parking on a grass verge?

[slapmatt]

I live in a nice little close, where every house has a private driveway and most have garages.

My house faces a grass verge that runs alongside a neighbour's fence. I enjoy being able to look out the front of my house and not into someone else's living room, but increasingly this grass verge is being used as a car park, mainly by retarded women in 4x4s who have quickly turned the grass into something resembling a ploughed field. I have politely requested to a few of them that they not park there, which is usually greeted with a blank stare and a grunt.

I genuinely don't want to start putting up "No Parking" signs, as I think that's a little anally retentive, but both myself and my next-door neighbour have commented as on more than one occasion we've found it difficult to get our cars on and off the driveway.

I thought about planting some small conifers along the edge of the verge, but I'm sure aforementioned 4x4 drivers would simply park over the top of them.

Any ideas?

[slapmatt]

I don't know who, if anyone owns the land. I contacted the council and they politely referred to it as "no man's land, opposite number XXX"!

XXX being where I live!

[slapmatt]

nwtony said:

I'd go for the flower bed idea, that way it looks better and will presumably stop people parking on it. Mind you, if you don't keep it pretty then it just becomes a dirt patch and nobody is going to give two hoots about parking on that are they?

This is the problem - because there are clearly tyre tracks across the grass (from said 4x4) all and sundry think it is now the local car park.

I'd happily put down half a dozen little confiers if I knew it would make a different and the bastards wouldn't simply park on top of them, but given that they seem completely oblivious to the fact that are ruining the grass and blocking people's driveways, I don't think a few 1ft height trees are going to make alot of difference.