Do You Have Any Decking In Your Garden/Yard?

@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
January 7, 2010 8:03pm CST
We have a raised flower/plant bed in our yard and the rest of it is made up of flags with a shed at the back. Decking reared its ugly head on that British "gardening" show called "Ground Force." Since then it's become a British obsession. Rather than having swathes of grass and stuff growing everywhere we have become a nation of "I can't be bothered growing nice things, let's deck it and have a barbecue area." Why does this happen? We don't get that much sunshine so why have decking and barbecues, it's not Australia! Is this just a British phenomenon or do other countries not grow anything either? I become upset at the lack of greenery in people's gardens. The shingled driveway for the car is now the dominant feature at the front of houses these days. No wonder we get floods, there's no grass to soak all the rainwater up. A family moved in across the road from my parents and the first thing they did was chop down a cherry tree that used to have beautiful blossom all over it in the springtime. Now there's just a stump but they haven't constructed a driveway for the car. So why did they chop the tree down? The only thing I can think of is that it may have blocked their light...but why couldn't they just trim it down? Why chop down the whole tree? It really annoys me when people dismiss nature as if it's some kind of hindrance to their lives. How do you feel about this and do you have neighbours that chop down trees for no reason then burn them like demented cavemen?
1 response
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
8 Jan 10
I don't know much about British gardening. I don't have deck and I hate grilling. I love colorful garden and lots of flowers. Decks are quite popular here, but people who have decks also have big gardens with trees. Hard to imagine life in my town without big, beautiful trees.
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
8 Jan 10
I'm not saying there is no gardening going on at all in the UK. For example, my in-laws have a huge garden with a pond, vegetables, a couple of trees, flowers, hanging baskets and still have room for a garage and a greenhouse, plus a blocked paved area for potted plants. Mum's is similar but has more of a wilder look about it (and no pond) but it seems generations subsequent to them have grown up thinking that it's better to have decking rather than a lawned area for entertaining. I love lawns, they aren't that high maintenance and drain the rainwater away so why decking has replaced it in some cases is a mystery to me. Decking is also notorious as nesting areas (underneath) for rats! I hope that Alan Titchmarsh comes back to 'Gardener's World' and tells us to get digging wherever possible because people take notice of him, he's been around for years.