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?

[Code Monkey]

local council near me stopped this with installing neat wooden poles in the ground only a foot tall look pretty tidy and natural and would stop any would be off roader from managing to muddy up the bridgestones.

[TeamD]

Every time one parks there let their tyres down. They'll get the message eventually.

[pdV6]

Big lumps of rock. Look scenic and trash anything trying to park on them...

[AlexH]

Landmines?

[simpo two]

If it's your land, a nice post and chain fence.

If it's not, it's down to your local Highways dept.

[gideon]

People like that are a pain in the arse, I used to share a house with some friends near a football stadium and some tt actual parked in our drive so he could go and watch the match!!! Even more amazing was that he was surprised when we objected to him doing so, soon moved it when we mentioned that we could not be responsiable for the safety of his car (which was a beaten up pile of crap anyway) soon moved the damn thing.

You're situation is a little more tricky, my first thought would be to let down the 4x4's tyres and blame it on eco-warriors.

If you have tried being polite then its hard to suggest anything else thats not going to end up upseting someone, then again it depends on how much you care about upseting them.

[Dakkon]

pdV6 said:

Big lumps of rock. Look scenic and trash anything trying to park on them...

You can even paint them white so they look nice and drivers can see them easier, our neighbours do this, works very well.

[john75]

AlexH said:

Landmines?

Good solution available at all good Garden Centres.

[bga]

pdV6 said:

Big lumps of rock. Look scenic and trash anything trying to park on them...

my mum did this outside their house, worked for them. They make sure the grass is cut short so there is no way people can claim they didn't see them

[Jaglover]

john75 said:

AlexH said: Landmines? Good solution available at all good Garden Centres.

The only sensible solution.

As their car soars into the air they will have time to reflect on the offence they have caused to others.

[hugoagogo]

bga said:

my mum did this outside their house, worked for them. They make sure the grass is cut short so there is no way people can claim they didn't see them

so what if they can't see them?

[TonyHetherington]

The thin wooden posts menitoned above seem to work very well.

There is one consideration though; if they don't park there, where WILL they park? You might move them from there to an even more pain-in-the-neck place for you

[dick dastardly]

Put a pond in the middle of it.

[Piglet]

Posts need to be tall enough that they can be seen so that you are not creating a hazard.

My dad has put in quite high kerbing on his frontage but he's also raised it so that it's very visable.

You might not have the right to fence it - new'ish estates often prohibit fencing around the front of properties to keep the development "open".

Assuming you or your neighbour own the land, I'd go with posts but make sure that they are very visable.

[alfaman]

an alternative solution would be to excavate the verge to 3 foot depth , backfill with something very soft/hollow (empty boxes) , then grass over. Put out a sign saying "soft verge"

1st SUV to park will get a surpise

[Muncher]

If it's not your land there is nothing you can personally do about it.

If you try to block it with posts, or rocks you will be liable for leaving them there if anyone hits them or trips on them.

[vixpy1]

Cillit Bang

[rich1231]

Code Monkey said:

local council near me stopped this with installing neat wooden poles in the ground only a foot tall look pretty tidy and natural and would stop any would be off roader from managing to muddy up the bridgestones.

Seconded

[bga]

hugoagogo said:

bga said: my mum did this outside their house, worked for them. They make sure the grass is cut short so there is no way people can claim they didn't see them so what if they can't see them?

They are stupid/should be more observant. They are 1ft high white rocks. If you can't spot them then you shouldn't be driving.