Hi all, after some advice please. We want to cover a piece of our front garden with some kind of ground cover. It's about 12m x 2.5m and has a few shrubs and small trees in it. We're fed up with having to weed it so are thinking some kind of ground cover would be ideal. Thinking plum coloured slate clippings would look nice.
Any ideas or tips concerning how to do this best would be appreciated. Also recommendations for the best coverings people have used.
Thanks in advance.
Ian
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
A good quality geotextile membrane is essential, IMO. As long as it is laid properly it will last for many years, cheaper alternatives don't last too long. And a tip from a dog-owner, too coarse a topping makes poo retrieval tricky and also puts the dog off going there!
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
I would spray area with weedkiller, then when dead lay the thickest membrane I can get.
I have those 1 inch type slate looking stuff and it seems to be very low dust, clean to walk on if that makes sense. And has held up well although its in an area that doesn't get walked on much.
Still get some weeds, I think they are incredibly hard to stop completely.
About 30 years ago I did not like the idea of a membrane because they almost always come up to the surface and a black membrane poking out through gravel or chipping looks awful.
So I laid a load of clippings about 6" deep onto of the soil instead of the usual 2". Not a weed has come through and it still looks good. So I am weed free and membrane free.
Also, plum slate is really nice but darkens the area significantly, whereas Cotswold makes it much brighter.It may or may not be an issue...
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Decent thick layer of bark chippings would do the trick.
When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........
Am looking at what type of membrane, have seen 'semi permeable membranes' reccomended as well, so will take a look.Originally Posted by ralphy
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
The key is depth of material cover, 6" or so as said earlier; do that and you'll have zero maintenance especially if you whack a membrane down too.
It's an idea, but one edge has a wooden fence along it so might need another barrier to contain that depth.
You're right, perhaps a lighter colour would be better.
It would work I know, but the all knowing one thinks it would be too dark!
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
For a belt and braces approach, dig down and install a compacted sub base under your top layer - nothing will grow in that. (50mm type 1)
Although if you have trees etc then they might drop leaves, which may be a pain to remove from a gravelled surface.
A blower is what you need in that case.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
6” of slate mulch? You have to be joking man!
Most of the weeds that appear in aggregate surfaces come in from the top and seem to survive in anything. The membrane layers are good for stopping migration of top soil into your chosen surface and vv.
Some of the weediest surfaces I’ve ever seen have been 3” of type 1 under an inch of self binding path gravel. Ever seen unused tarmac “disappear” after a while?
Why can't it be planted with something low maintenance? Do you need to walk on it? A pic of the area might help.
Artificial grass?
Never understood those things, do you blow it into a corner and then shovel it up? Or just blow it away from where it is
Most work both ways. You blow them into a corner and then invert the fan and suck them in. It works better if the leaves are dry.
'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.
Ahh ...I have seen the council guys blowing leaves along and thought WHY !! but didn’t know they sucked them up at the end !
I can see where you're coming from there, but it might be a bit more involved than we were looking for.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I do walk across it to paint the wooden fence that runs along it and hang the Christmas lights along it. (I know, I know....).
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I think it's going to be a case of a decent membrane and 40mm or so of the desired colour stones/flint/slate stuff. Thanks for the ideas guys.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Insects, hedgehogs, frogs, birds - where will this madness end.
"Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."
'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.
We are in the middle of something similar - was completely overgrown and we’ve chopped everything down to close to the ground but with so many stalks protruding from the ground any membrane would be punctured to buggery so we decided to get more topsoil in and level it on top and then membrane followed by 10mm washed gravel. Only started today but a before picture of the area (you can see why it needed done
Here’s what I did as an eco-friendly way to deal with an area of meter-high weeds where nothing else will grow: sheets of cardboard laid down and watered flat, with several layers of mulch laid on top. The cardboard will encourage continuation of microbial action in the soil and will decompose over time. Needs to be redone every handful of years though.
Well my back will protest in the morning but a lot of progress today with that wasteland. Starting to take shape and prob done 65% of the work I reckonWe are in the middle of something similar - was completely overgrown and we’ve chopped everything down to close to the ground but with so many stalks protruding from the ground any membrane would be punctured to buggery so we decided to get more topsoil in and level it on top and then membrane followed by 10mm washed gravel. Only started today but a before picture of the area (you can see why it needed done
Looking good! ^^
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
Is that membrane permeable? You run the risk of forming a gulley for rain water and having large pools form in heavy rain if you use polythene outside.
It has a hessian membrane under it also and we are piercing it with a fork as we gravel. It’s on a slope and it never gathers water
And out of gravel / prob about 5 mins before my back gave in. Pretty happy and think I’ll pave the last bit and stick a seat on it
most suck and chop - creating something easier to compost if so desired too.
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