This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: [SG] Pea Gravel For Paths;Slate for Steps

Shadegardeners,
Another benefit of using pea gravel or gravel of any type in the garden is
that voles have a hard time burrowing in the soil with gravel present.

Bob Solberg, a noted hosta grower, has recommended the roto-tilling of
gravel in hosta beds to a depth of 6 inches to control voles.

Voles cause a lot of damage to hostas and I am sure they eat a lot of other
plants in our shade gardens. While using gravel in your walk ways is not the
same as tilling in into the soil, I am sure It does not make the voles lives
any easier. Spillage into near by beds may not be such a negative thing
after all if it gives the voles a little extra to chew on.

Dan Nelson  (hosta collector)
Bridgeville DE
zone 7
-----Original Message-----
From: Marge Talt <mtalt@CLARK.NET>
To: shadegardens@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU <shadegardens@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
Date: Friday, September 04, 1998 3:53 AM
Subject: Re: [SG] Pea Gravel For Paths;Slate for Steps


>Some observations on pea gravel and paving FWIW...
>
>Plants of all kinds think pea gravel is an ideal seedbed;
>
>It's a bit tough to walk on since it doesn't pack down, and for it to look
>nice, needs a fair amount of raking smooth;
>
>It won't hold on even a mild slope (voice of sad experience)
>
>But, the color is quite nice :-)
>
>In the UK, I saw what appeared to be crushed pea gravel (even brought a bit
>home in a bag).  It was used as a paving material and quite nice, since it
>did lock together.  I have never found this in the US - at least here in
>the greater Washington DC area - maybe you can find some where you are.
>
>The paths at the Mall in DC (the area between all the museums of the
>Smithsonian, etc.) are made of some secret formula of pea gravel and clay.
>Some years ago, I made several phone calls trying to find out just what
>this formula is, to little avail.  The only thing I could discover was that
>it was specially made for the Park Service and only available in quantities
>too huge to contemplate.  It does hold on mild slopes, drains well and
>doesn't shift with foot traffic......nice to know, but of little help in
>actually reproducing it :-)
>
>I used pea gravel for one of my paths, as a thin layer over stone dust.
>While it still has the problem of stuff seeding into it and it doesn't hold
>on a slope, I do think putting down the stone dust as the  major layer
>helps to keep it from rolling underfoot....you might consider this as
>stonedust is also less expensive than pea gravel.
>
>It is, however, less work to keep up than woodchips in that it does not rot
>down and need topping up.
>
>IMHO, for major paths, a solid masonry material such as slate, flagstone,
>concrete pavers (not poured concrete - OK for sidewalks, but not garden
>paths IMO) or brick is well worth the initial cost and effort of
>installation - if it is at all within the scope of the pocketbook.
>Installation on sand or stone dust base is not all that difficult (I just
>finished such a project) and permits the paving to drain - unlike
>installation on a poured concrete base.  The one drawback to this
>installation method is that plants will seed into the cracks.  But, the
>upside to this is that you can grow plants in the cracks if you wish :-)  I
>use fine sandbox sand to fill the cracks, swept in and then watered and
>repeated until the cracks are filled firmly.
>
>Marge Talt, zone 7 Maryland
>mtalt@clark.net
>Editor:  Gardening in Shade
>current article:  Planting Under Trees - Part 10;The West Side
>http://www.suite101.com/frontpage/frontpage.cfm?topicID=222
>Gardening Topic Index for Suite101:
>http://www.suite101.com/userfiles/79/gardening.html
>
>----------
>>
>> >For me, I am changing all my paths and shall use pea gravel. A rather
>in-
>> >between look, that will not be as time consuming as the stones and not
>as
>> >difficult to keep up as the wood chips.
>> >For steps, I am getting someone to put in slate steps too complement our
>> >patio.
>> >
>> >Clyde Crockett z5
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index