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Do things like the below link actually work in a domestic driveway?
I'd be getting a pro to do the work.
Specifically:
- If I do a bit of work to nurture it will I have grass growing through?
- Does the surface last if they're properly installed, I don't want to be doing this job again in 5 year?
- Can you park on it immediately or does the grass have to grow first?
A former employer used to have something a little bit like that on some “overflow parking”. It worked ok, but if you left a vehicle there for a week at a time the grass started to die off. It may even be a problem if it was just occupied a lot during daylight hours. Given how long it took to recover I’d think you want to leave the newly planted grass weeks to bed in before abusing it.
visitors will be unsure if the they should park on it or not.
you need to cut the grass.
it drains better than paving, but unless there is a well designed/maintained run off/drain it will still flood in wet weather.
My friend has it and it looks like a chav has parked on their lawn.
Google linked me to resin paths. How good would that be for the bike wash area!
FiL put this type of thing in his front lawn (probably 10 years ago now), as an occasional parking space: 
I thought it a great idea, unfortunately he says it's shite & not worked at all well (& he is the kind of guy to care for it properly).
thread resurrection
anyone have any good experiences with this stuff?
For drainage purposes, but better looking than gravel, I’ve often thought that decorative air-bricks laid on sand and filled with sand would make great paving and driveways. The only clay ones I van find at the moment are these:
https://www.dezeen.com/2010/02/11/tavolo-cobogó-by-the-campana-brothers/
These seem to be the most common:
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-terracotta-air-brick-in-red-brick-wall-17214783.html
but there are plenty of repro Victorian cast-iron trivet-style ventilators, like these:
https://www.cottinghamcollection.co.uk/product/air-brick-trivet-cast-antique-iron-medium-8-25-x-4-25-2/
Very pretty, but I would imagine the cost would be prohibitive!
There are reclaimed Victorian decorative air-bricks, like these:
https://www.reclamation-yard.co.uk/items/reclaimed-air-brick/attachment/dsc06870/
but there doesn’t seem to be a current equivalent, sadly.
Laid in a herringbone pattern, filled with sand on a gravel/sand bed, they’d get moss growing on them eventually, but they’d be solid and allow proper drainage.