Gravel garden

retiredandskint · 20 February 2019 at 11:51PM

I have an area in my garden which has been gravelled but it's difficult to walk on. The gravel is really more like small stones. Is there anything I can do, apart from removing the stones, to make less 'bumpy'?

unrecordings · 21 February 2019 at 12:50AM

Other than removing it, top it off with pea gravel and/or sand ?
Pave over it ?
Old carpet ??

Depends on how cheap it needs to be, how nice it needs to look & how much of the labour you can manage yourself

Personally I'd rake the stones back and consider turfing or paving

Davesnave · 21 February 2019 at 5:55AM

Rounded pea gravel is the worst to walk on because it moves as you put weight on it. We were once in business with a couple who decided to pea gravel our entire work area, and the partnership ended right there!

Stones can be interspersed with paving slabs set a short distance apart if there are definite routes that need to be followed across it.

unrecordings · 21 February 2019 at 9:43AM

Funnily enough with my limited mobility I love pea gravel - there's just enough give to prevent me losing my balance when my bad leg decides to just stop, and it's small enough not to risk an ankle injury, and it's not painful to walk on

But yes it does tend to move around a bit, which as Dave points out could be downright annoying

It depends on the exact nature of the problem - if it's a mobility issue then you may find different footwear is actually the solution. In my own case I settled on surfing/beach shoes which are easy to get on/off but have thin soles (no good for large gravel) so I made a set of fitted insoles out of some kitchen lino offcuts - nice & padded on one side with a hard surface on the other - pop them in padded side up and they're perfect for mooching around outdoors

retiredandskint · 21 February 2019 at 10:00AM

Thanks for all your replies. It looks as though there isn't really an easy fix.

It's a section of my garden that was once raised beds and the vegetable plot. My husband became ill and it was easier to remove the beds, the wood was rotting, and soil. It's separated by the main part of the garden by a picket fence with archway entrance.

Gravel garden

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