In my neighbourhood there is a law against parking on the street overnight.  Due to this law, many residents have to get creative as to what to do with the extra cars.  As many households own more than one car now, this can get tricky especially if you have a sidewalk running through it and a short lane.

The sidewalk cannot be blocked either, so many have resorted to putting their extra vehicles on the front lawn.  This is great for a few nights, but after a heavy rain fall, or the winter or better yet the spring with all the mud, the grass becomes ruined and huge ruts develop from the weight of the vehicles.

Some have gone to great expense to have contractors come in and widen the driveway with pavement into the front yard, which is a solution but can get very expensive.  But what if you still want the green space?  But at the same time need to park an extra car?  You want that beautiful front garden you worked hard for to remain nice during the day and by night be an extra parking spot.

I walk a lot through the subdivision and I have seen these types of products in use.   Some residents laid this down in the fall, and I have to tell you, their lawn still looks awesome in the spring and the grass was growing even though they park a car there at night.  Others who did nothing were dealing with large mud ruts and ruined lawns and many times were stuck.

Driveway Pavers or Grids for Grass or Gravel

This style of grid clicks together and you can do this in an afternoon.  If you store a RV or other larger vehicles, this style of support works best.  No more worries about your RV creating sink holes.  Once you clip these together you can fill with gravel which will stop those grave ruts from forming or you can fill with topsoil and then grass seed.

I thought this was a brilliant idea and a great way to retain green space or create more support for your gravel laneway.  It also provides support for a new lawn trying to seed and stops the seeds from washing away. 

Event Parking to Protect Lawn

This particular product is perfect for event parking all over your lawn, but can remain on the ground and will stabilize the grass roots and will grow right through it.  This one is a net you roll out and then anchor. 

I have seen both styles of products in use around my subdivision.  As most of these houses here were built in the 60s, the driveways would fit one car nicely, but as cars have multiplied as well as storing RVs, boat trailers and more, it means either ripping up the present drive and then widening it taking up the front yard, or simply using this type of product right over the existing grass without having to disturb it or rip it up. 

The only thing that can kill the grass now is if you have a leaky car, so you will want to keep up your car maintenance.  It is a cheaper alternative to construction, digging and widening the driveway and losing your green space.  Beautiful green space by day and extra parking by night.