Changing my lawn to a shingle/pebble area?

FreeBear

Silvertabby said: weed blocking membrane will only stop (most of) the weeds growing from  underneath, it won't stop weed seeds from germinating in the gravel.

Indeed. You eventually end up with weed roots matted in to the fabric. When the time comes to lift it, the material can not be composted, so has to go to landfill. Really not an environmentally friendly option.... It also stops worms from sticking their heads up out of the ground. Some geotextiles also slow the passage of water through, so after heavy rain, you could end up with a very large, shallow pond for a few days.

A gravel bed, done properly, needs digging out to a fair depth (100-150mm). 75-100mm of well compacted hardcore (MOT1 or crusher run) put down, followed by ~50mm of gravel. With that depth of gravel, weeds should be easy enough to pull up by hand before they get too well established. Whilst you can just bung some gravel down on bare soil, over time, it will slowly sink in as worms bring the soil to the surface.

TUVOK

A big thank you to all members who replied,
I had thought of a few of the suggestions written but also there are some which I had not.
One thing that I have read about recently is to fit a valve on the waste sink outlet so that you can divert the 'grey water' to your lawn. It's only about 6 to 8 feet from the outlet to the top of the lawn, so I suppose that I could run a pipe underneath existing slabs to the lawn and even have a another pipe/hose to go to various distances along the width of the lawn, should work ok as the lawn and patio slope downwards from the back of the house.
Plenty to think about, thanks again for all of your replies.

Dustyevsky

Eldi_Dos said:

@TUVOK,  
Have you thought about turning lawn into a wild meadow lawn, I am led to believe they do not need watered.
Could just mow path round edge to give access to flower beds.

Hayfield-mimicking lawns need maintenance by the end of July and they are far from easy to establish as a permanent feature. While they don't need mowing for a few months, the work needed to maintain them properly can be much more than that for a patch of traditional grass or a gravel surface. Consider, for example, how that 50cm tall grass will be cut in high summer. It won't go into an average mower! Also, think what you'll be left with; probably yellow, light-starved stems and bare patches for around a month. That's what a real hay field looks like.

Eldi_Dos

Do not think the work involved in maintaining a lawn was the issue more the water usage needed to maintain a traditional lawn in summertime.
 Traditional lawns unless irrigated have not done well the last few summers. Indeed I did not use my mower from June till beginning of September last year and so far this year it is been very dry so lawn not looking its best.

The patches of wild meadow lawn I have seen about seem to cope better through the dry spells and granted they can look a bit off when strimmed down.

If you take into account how much water is used on lawns in the summer you need to ask if it is sustainable.

-taff

I'm not a grass fan anyway, I can't wait to rid myself of mine. Maybe you could have a radical redesign and go for drought tolerant planting in pockets, with bound gravel etc. I think a traditional garden, the kind with a lawn in the middle and borders round the outside, summer annuals etc, may be something that's going to take a lot more work than previously. Which is not to say that drought tolerant planting will be no work, just one worry about water will be abated.

I have four 240ltr water butts set up behind the garage, one 100ltr one and a large green plastic bin behind the greenhouse and I guarantee you, that's not going to be enough for the greenhouse alone if it doesn't rain to replenish. Water storage is great if you have the space and are prepared to put up with the ugly barrels [ Yep, I know they have fancy schmancy ones now, which I do like, very expensive though] or ibc's that you'd need for storage.

Grey water solutions and/or rainwater harvesting will work, and again, you'll have ot put in the time and effort to organise or implement them. You'd keep your lawn for a bit longer then though.

Dustyevsky

Eldi_Dos said:

If you take into account how much water is used on lawns in the summer you need to ask if it is sustainable.

We have had less rain than most places this summer, and our half acre of grass is holding up OK without any watering. There's a hosepipe ban in place, but we've no time to water grass anyway. A friend's front lawn is a mess just now, but she has it cut on an inflexible schedule.

Fancier grass mixes and manicured lawns do take a hammering in drought. They all bounce back when serious rain resumes, but the more pristine finishes may not return to their former glory. I go to a lot of NGS Open Gardens, especially rural ones. I don't see many 'lawns' just grass, like we have. Maybe fancy lawns that need watering are an urban thing?

Eldi_Dos

Most of us live in a urban environment but nice to hear that in little oasis of tranquillity that paddocks are thriving.

sheramber

A clover lawn?

We had a lot of clover in your grass and it stayed green when the grass wilted.

Grenage

Mind your own business has been pretty decent as a lawn replacement for us.

At least it was until we got a dog.

TUVOK

On reflexion I think that I will carry on with the grass for the time being.
I must remember to water as much as I can during April and pay a bit more on the water charges by using the hosepipe.
We've had a bit of rain on Sunday and although not heavy, it's been raining mostly today.
I managed to put liquid lawn feed on during some rain yesterday and it looks better today already.
Thanks again for all replies.