I lived in a place where they tried to do that but TBH because of how things were layout out it wasn't too nice. Depending how the unit was oriented in relation to the earth and the other buildings. The garden area was either too shaded from nearby buildings/hedges/trees so it wasn't sunny at all and always kind of dark and damp. Or it was blasted with sun with the little lawns/gardens in competition with tree roots for small amount of rainwater. When there is too much pavement the rainfall mostly washes into the sewers instead of getting to the ground. So people who had their bit of land facing that way could only get it nice by having sprinklers on all the time which sucks.
I think it could be improved with a redesign. Put in trees which will be sustainable in the available land. And stop being so committed to the suburban aesthetic of grass and hedges when the environment doesn't support it. Maybe add some big planter boxes with good soil. It's not an unsalvageable situation but it would be a lot of work to make it nice.
I lived in a place where they tried to do that but TBH because of how things were layout out it wasn't too nice. Depending how the unit was oriented in relation to the earth and the other buildings. The garden area was either too shaded from nearby buildings/hedges/trees so it wasn't sunny at all and always kind of dark and damp. Or it was blasted with sun with the little lawns/gardens in competition with tree roots for small amount of rainwater. When there is too much pavement the rainfall mostly washes into the sewers instead of getting to the ground. So people who had their bit of land facing that way could only get it nice by having sprinklers on all the time which sucks.
I think it could be improved with a redesign. Put in trees which will be sustainable in the available land. And stop being so committed to the suburban aesthetic of grass and hedges when the environment doesn't support it. Maybe add some big planter boxes with good soil. It's not an unsalvageable situation but it would be a lot of work to make it nice.