Which garden gravel

[Garyivy]

Evening all.

With the better weather on the horizon I’ll be replacing our garden flags with some gravel, partly for drainage and partly cost.

I’m struggling to decide which stone to put down. There’s an abundance out there but which suit on old English style garden, white wooden doors etc.

Any suggestions?

 

[RBailey]

I have gone with generic +20mm washed.
I find that the smaller pea gravel (+10mm) wanders more, gets stuck in tires and boot treads, and is light enough to get sucked up by the leaf blower.

Cheers,
Richard B.

 

[CliffordPope]

Initial consideration is whether you are going to drive a vehicle on it. It was explained to me by a gravel contractor that for grip you need stones about an inch across with flat faces, roughly cube shaped. These lock together under the weight of a car and give traction. I once drove on my brother in law's new drive that had been surfaced in the wrong sort, selected purely for appearance, and got hopeless bogged down after a few yards, like driving in fine desert sand. We had to dig out the entire drive and replace it.

 

[Garyivy]

Morning and thank you

Fortunately just for the back of the house so no vehicles.

 

[Cubist]

No matter what you do and whatever prevention and suppression measures you employ - your paths and driveways will ultimately succumb to weeds. These will be more prevalent than you may find in your flower borders, more stubborn, faster growing and resilient to weedkillers, hoes and trimmers/brushcutters. Maddeningly they will be back within just a few days after your last efforts to eradicate them. Gravel is fine, gravel is great, gravel is cheap and gravel is easy to deploy and they will chortle merrilyand welcomingly at the suppression fabrics you painstakingly laid to stop them. But, it will tread down into whatever material it's laid on, it will concretise in frequently traveled areas. Cars and other vehicles will plow and disperse it as will heavy rain, it will accumulate soils and dusts precipitated from other areas of the garden and the atmosphere, it will accumulate the decomposed and decomposing corpses of billions of insects and other wildlife........ nuff said?

 

[Garyivy]

No matter what you do and whatever prevention and suppression measures you employ - your paths and driveways will ultimately succumb to weeds. These will be more prevalent than you may find in your flower borders, more stubborn, faster growing and resilient to weedkillers, hoes and trimmers/brushcutters. Maddeningly they will be back within just a few days after your last efforts to eradicate them. Gravel is fine, gravel is great, gravel is cheap and gravel is easy to deploy and they will chortle merrilyand welcomingly at the suppression fabrics you painstakingly laid to stop them. But, it will tread down into whatever material it's laid on, it will concretise in frequently traveled areas. Cars and other vehicles will plow and disperse it as will heavy rain, it will accumulate soils and dusts precipitated from other areas of the garden and the atmosphere, it will accumulate the decomposed and decomposing corpses of billions of insects and other wildlife........ nuff said?

almost sounds like you're not a fan of gravel.....

 

[Cubist]

My enmity for the stuff is based on the fact that I have paths and driveways covering an area of roughly 1/4 of an acre that keeps me occupied with brush cutters, hoes and rakes for days on end every darn year. That said my true pet hate is Ivy (sorry). I always carry a bill-hook when perambulating around the gardens and fields to attack its attempts to kill more of my trees.

 

[fernicarry]

I like my gravel, especially as it probably came from the beach across the road when the house was built so it falls squarely into the bracket of "original fabric". It is however very high maintenance.

I spend a lot of time in the summer with a hoe de-compacting it and a riddle removing the organic matter. Its one of the few places I use herbicide. I suspect a lot of areas that are now under grass used to be gravel, I mean its unusual to have grass growing right up to the front door but then we never use the front door. You can roll back the turf and there is the gravel sitting perfectly underneath. Slowly I'm decreasing the area of grass and increasing the area of gravel.

I've almost reclaimed the front path, which we never walk on because the gate leads directly onto the road and you take your life in your hands emerging from it. The warning of concealed entrances seems to mean go as fast as possible and preferably on the wrong wide of the road to many around here.

Anyone who watches TV gardening shows will know that they always recommend planting into well drained compost. Gravel fits that description quite nicely. Weed matting stops working after a while, the weeds just grow on top of and through and it becomes completely ineffective except at preventing you from planting the nice things you want to plant. Many of my flower beds were covered with it, and with weeds, when I first moved in.... Nature always finds a way.

I found another disadvantage this winter when we got slushy snow that froze solid over night. You can't shovel snow off of gravel very effectively. Not a good time to have broken traction control.

I still wouldn't get rid of it, except maybe for some nice reclaimed flags or setts.

 

[CliffordPope]

"I have paths and driveways covering an area of roughly 1/4 of an acre"

I've never thought of expressing my "pathage" in acres.
It reminds me of the victorian gardening handbook that read "No matter how small your garden, try and devote at least an acre to woodland."

 

[Mrs McG]

Has anyone here used a gravel grid? They are supposed to minimise compacting and gravel spillage but I’ve not seen one in situ.

I’m with you @Cubist about ivy, although my loathing of holly might just pip it.

 

[Cubist]

"I have paths and driveways covering an area of roughly 1/4 of an acre"

I've never thought of expressing my "pathage" in acres.
It reminds me of the victorian gardening handbook that read "No matter how small your garden, try and devote at least an acre to woodland."

Over the first few years of our occupation/stewardship I would find myself 'rescuing' tree seedlings that would literally pop up all over the gravel paths and drives. Many of these I would drop into handy plant pots to grow them on and that was as much attention as they ever got from me. I never bothered to keep an accurate count by=ut I would estimate the final number to be somewhere in the order of 700-1000. Without exception all of these found their way into the hedgerows bordering our fields while I was attempting to tame and restore them.

I mention this only as the advice from the gardening experts you mention would have been entirely pointless - the woodland will plant itself quite happily - no need to work at it.

Has anyone here used a gravel grid? They are supposed to minimise compacting and gravel spillage but I’ve not seen one in situ.

I’m with you @Cubist about ivy, although my loathing of holly might just pip it.

Re the grid; no. But, I like holly for its evergreen habit and because it burns well when properly seasoned, When it prickles though that's a different matter. Not nearly as bad as blackthorn but you can at least enjoy the sloes - preferably with gin.

 

[LadyArowana]

But, I like holly for its evergreen habit and because it burns well when properly seasoned, When it prickles though that's a different matter. Not nearly as bad as blackthorn but you can at least enjoy the sloes - preferably with gin.

I nominate Mahonia as another in the genus “Evil Tree” for prickles. Ours has grown rather large even though it gets cut back regularly, thick gloves and safety glasses necessary.

 

[Feltwell]

Tony Hamer & Sons - just outside Market Drayton, so not on your doorstep but not a million miles away - has the biggest selection of decorative aggregate I think you'll find anywhere, and he delivers. He's primarily a bulk supplier to the trade but is happy to do small quantities to home owners. He has a decent display area. Really nice, helpful guy to deal with, prices are keen.

https://www.tonyhamer.co.uk/

If you're going at the weekend, note that he's only open on Saturday mornings.

 

[Feltwell]

Has anyone here used a gravel grid? They are supposed to minimise compacting and gravel spillage but I’ve not seen one in situ.

I’m with you @Cubist about ivy, although my loathing of holly might just pip it.

Yes! I did my sister's garden with it. It worked really well - I filled it with gravel then put about an inch or two on top, which hides the grids well. It doesn't "Travel" anywhere near as much as without grids. Mine came from here, cheap but fine, I used leftover to make a shed base as well:-

https://www.ibran.co.uk/products/gravel-parking-grids

I also hate ivy, with a passion. I'm on constant battle with it to keep it under control, turn my back and it's grown again and birds have nested in it so I can't touch it for months! I'm allergic to the damn stuff as well and have to dress up with all skin covered to tackle it

 

[a twig]

Wot Felters sez, gravel grids work very well

 

[Cubist]

I nominate Mahonia as another in the genus “Evil Tree” for prickles. Ours has grown rather large even though it gets cut back regularly, thick gloves and safety glasses necessary.

Seconded. And thirded and.... The PO was fond of those beasts, there are at least 10 of them scattered like land mines around this place.

 

[Cubist]

Yes! I did my sister's garden with it. It worked really well - I filled it with gravel then put about an inch or two on top, which hides the grids well. It doesn't "Travel" anywhere near as much as without grids. Mine came from here, cheap but fine, I used leftover to make a shed base as well:-

https://www.ibran.co.uk/products/gravel-parking-grids

I also hate ivy, with a passion. I'm on constant battle with it to keep it under control, turn my back and it's grown again and birds have nested in it so I can't touch it for months! I'm allergic to the damn stuff as well and have to dress up with all skin covered to tackle it

While I was clearing/restoring the hedgerows here I found that half a dozen mature hawthorns and apple trees had been killed by an Ivy infestation. Nothing surprising there other than the fact that they had all been killed by just one Ivy plant that was also attacking anything else it could reach. Took me a little time to realise that what I had taken to be a heavily warped tree trunk was in fact the main stem off said Ivy - it was circa 10inches in diameter and I needed a chainsaw to cut it. Having done so the perishing thing bled water/sap for over a week!

 

[Mrs McG]

Whilst the conversation is completely off its original topic I thought I’d chip in with my ‘beat this’ holly photo. Yes, it really was taller than the cottage and yes it really was planted less than 4ft away from the back door. I say ‘was’ as it came down today, I acted like a kid at Xmas the whole time

 

[LadyArowana]

Whilst the conversation is completely off its original topic I thought I’d chip in with my ‘beat this’ holly photo. Yes, it really was taller than the cottage and yes it really was planted less than 4ft away from the back door. I say ‘was’ as it came down today, I acted like a kid at Xmas the whole time

At least your annoying tree has had the decency to not menace the neighbours. When our house was rented out the ivy on one wall of the courtyard garden was ignored for years ( despite a clause in the lease about maintaining things properly ) and decided to go visiting. The house it colonised was a weekend hen party house, so nobody really bothered with it. Eventually the owners gave up that business and the property sold to a family, who weren’t keen on greenery covering and coming through the windows. We had no idea that had happened and the rental agents were useless about sorting it out, luckily we were already due to take possession back ourselves and the minute we got keys a pruning saw was deployed. It took about 18m for the stuff to die off and a very brave tree man to get rid! Our neighbours were actually very nice about the whole thing, the tiny window in the photo their builder managed to open and free up from inside, and as soon as we cut the trunks it started to wilt and die. The photo is just before it was completely removed.

 

[Garyivy]

We’ve ivy growing along one of the garden walls and I think it looks great, although I'm conscious I’ll need to encourage it not to grow too close to the house.

Whilst taking up the flags and prepping for the gravel I’ve come across an open waste pipe (previously covered by lead and a paving flag)

There’s a toilet in an outbuilding to it’s left but it’s the top of the run for the two soil pipes that feed into it. What am I best covering it with to stop anything falling into it but also without blocking it?