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Re: [ENABLED] garden paths

Like just about anything else dealing with disabilities, choice
of alternatives to hard-surface paving is going to be individual.
For instance, with my abnormal hip rotation, pea gravel or decomposed
granite is almost guaranteed to be as slick as ice for walking
for me.  And no problem at all for most folks.  But I do well
with grass (minus mole hills, please), packed wood chips, etc.

My in-laws used a material called "petromat" under their gravel
and clay driveway.  It's a geotextile, sort of like weedblock,
but meant to be incorporated into asphalt paving.  With a thin
covering of clay and gravel, it's proved to be a durable driveway
material for them, and doesn't allow rutting to develop.  Also
makes for a fairly firm footing even in Houston rains.  It might
make a good choice for a slightly raised or crowned garden path
on a high-clay soil, covered with a thin layer of clay, sand, or
cement blended with soil.  I haven't tried to construct a path
in this way, but I think it would work, and ought to be fairly
low cost and less labor intensive than most.

Kay Lancaster    kay@fern.com
just west of Portland, OR; USDA zone 8
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