Affordable garden in new construction - how to proceed best?

I never said that if you want to do something for lizards, you should create a gravel garden. I just wanted to point out that such a garden is by no means, and maybe even still better than a sealed concrete desert, as it is often portrayed here...

If there is already a lot of gravel/crushed stone there, then a prairie garden or alpine gardens or with native wild plants would not be wrong. If you choose plants that have high demands on soil and nutrient content, you have to replace the soil or you will no longer be able to manage the work.

Gravel, crushed stone is a good mulch for the right plants. Not everyone tolerates organic mulch. Ground cover plants on top and weeds/unwanted plants will be quite rare.

In theory, it is actually quite simple. The right plant, in the right location, no bare soil = little work

Maybe start a separate topic for it

For those who do not want to read it themselves or maybe simply do not have the time to implement it: there are even people who do this professionally. A few euros for the garden landscaper can drastically reduce follow-up costs in terms of working time in the garden. There are even some who really enjoy creating [naturnahe Gärten].

For me personally, that would also be a good alternative :) But don't the neighbors curse you for that? Or do they still greet you?

The neighbors don't say anything about it – between us and them is a residential street. And then on their side, it's just pavement. And pavement. And pavement. Then the houses and behind them a little towel garden.

(for this reason, we also decided to plant a hedge plus various shrubs and bushes on that very side facing the residential street, in addition to the fence, so that the birds can once again enjoy our street – before the dense development with three semi-detached houses on the other side, there was a great hedge and many trees... there was!)

@mayglow Gravel does not seal.

Yes, I basically knew that, so you are right that the sign itself is not a contradiction. However, in the discussion promoted by the poster as a whole, it somehow is... when people complain that it is habitat for flora and fauna that would be lost due to the new development area, or that it is bad for the microclimate, the many front yards with gravel (and sometimes nothing planted at all) simply don’t fit. For me, the sign is somewhat representative there, even if I maybe could have made that clearer ;) In itself, they are of course not entirely wrong, but to me it seems a bit flimsy. And that nothing other than rock gardens would be possible, I really don’t want to believe, because there were those two neighbors after all. The development plan for the new area is not finalized yet, so I can’t compare any regulations. But when I look at similar areas here, front yards with gravel are generally prohibited there. Actually, I don’t really care about the front yards of the existing buildings there either ;) Except that I have personally realized, that’s not how I want it (oops)

Just because everything mentioned in this thread exists or existed in our area (the gravel garden has since been converted into a lawn garden) This is the gravel garden, the small dots are lavender plants This is the unenthusiastic lawn garden This is our garden :)