How to Keep Cars Off Your Lawn

It is incredibly frustrating to have someone park their vehicle on your lawn, especially without permission. Not only does the vehicle’s weight compact the soil, but continuous tire tracks and leaking fluids can kill the grass. There are many ways to keep care off your lawn, ranging from simple, polite methods to last-ditch efforts that are more extreme.

  • The first step is to ask people not to park on the grass politely. This tactic works the best when offenders are friends, family, or neighbors that you already have a rapport. Some people aren’t aware their habit is bothering you and will stop immediately.
  • If you live in an area where random people are continuously parking on your grass (maybe a farmer’s market is up the block), it’s more challenging to ask them to stop. In that situation, one of the most straightforward solutions is to put up “no parking” signs. These can be attached to trees or put on stakes hammered into the ground.

However, the truth of the matter is that many people blatantly ignore signs, so you’ll need to move on to more earnest attempts. Beyond the “no parking” signs, everything else is a physical barrier that prevents cars from parking on the lawn.

  • Basic options include putting up driveway guards like reflective stakes and installing fencing or even snow netting along areas you want to keep car-free. These reflective stakes can also be helpful in winter when you’re plowing or shoveling snow. The drawback to these solutions is they don’t always look nice.
  • More aesthetically pleasing ideas include planting hedges, trees, ornamental grasses, or flowerbeds to create barriers. Another option is installing rock gardens, patio stone edging, water features, bird feeders, or statues. Or you could strategically install light posts. Sometimes these options take up the space where cars can park, but just having them there often deters parking because people see you’ve put time and effort into your landscaping.
  • Lastly—and this should be reserved for extreme situations only—you could pull out the big guns and install sirens that go off when people park on the grass or lawn spikes that deflate tires. Just make sure to check local code regarding the legality to prevent getting yourself in trouble!

In many situations, the most effective solution is to implement more than one option to get the attention of offending drivers. The best solutions often incorporate ideas that blend seamlessly into the landscape along with signs or visible barriers.