In the exit corridor in the local Morrisons, between the toilets and the foodbank donation box, there’s a display for a firm that does patios and front garden paving. Blown up Before and After photos provide a visual focus. The before pictures show unkempt and bedraggled front lawns. Next to them are “neat and tidy” areas of paving.

I look at them a bit depressed, and the salesman takes this to be a sign of interest and asks if I want to find out about what they do, how they do it etc etc.

I point out, in a friendly sort of way, that what they do looks like a desert. Its lifeless.

He says that unfortunately that’s how they make a living.

I reply that there are a lot of people in that sort of situation, but what they are doing is helping create a problem with flash flooding, because there is no exposed ground to absorb any of the extra rain that we are now going to be getting every winter.

He points out the “soakaway” – a small drain in the middle of the paving (an absolute bottom line for this kind of total paving approach, which at least drains excess water run off into the soil below, without which the sort of storm we are now getting will just overwhelm the drainage system and add to flash flooding lower down as the water gushes back up through the drains) and says that there can be a lot of ground in back gardens.

My response is that thats fine as far as it goes, but removing all the greenery from the fronts of houses makes streets souless and sterile, citing the way that grass verges have been paved over and trees rooted up to make way for cars to park, and hedges have been replaced by fences or open paved areas making streets feel bare, mean, lacking in rest. Parting shot, with a smile, “we need more greenery”.

He shrugs and smiles back, and waits for the next prospective customer.

I think any trees strategy for Local Authorities should incorporate a hedges campaign, to offer whole streets financial aid to replace fences with hedges, opening up a small amount of extra ground, but also greening our streets, providing habitat for birds and insects to complement the bee corridors and wildflower sewing in the local parks and surviving grass verges.