Grass and milkcrate driveways

[The Natural Philosopher]

They strictly aren't sewage systems.

[dennis]

No they aren't and they are not treated before emptying into the rivers.

[Steve Firth]

That suggestion really doesn't work. The plastic tiles protext the grass from the pressure of the tyres and it manages to stay healthy even when heavily used. What you are describing is what happens to all gravel drives eventually and the grass does not grow where the vehicle wheels roll the grass flat.

[Steve Firth]

They're not. They are large green plastic tiles about 1 metre to a side that clip together. Once the drive is covered they are filled with sharp sand/pea shingle or soil as required. They're bloody expensive, I've laid them around my barn and it would have been cheaper to carpet the area. With Wilton carpet.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Oh. I thought he meant the concrete blocks..that look like milkcrates..not the sort of 'temporary roads' you carry on sand desert expeditions ;-)

Didnt know you could get em in plastic. Total waste as you say.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Depends entirely on the traffic levels.

[Steve Firth]

It doesn't even need one car movement per day. A couple of vehicle movements per week is sufficient to suppress the growth of grass.

[Steve Firth]

I didn't really say that they were a total waste. I said they're expensive. This is similar to the stuff we got - I bought ours as a no-name product in bulk. Still sodding expensive.

[PM]

Yeah, but apart from that it's OK.

[Andy Dingley]

Get out more, I suggest the National Trust where they've been using this stuff in carparks since the '70s. It might "suppress the growth" of grass, but that's not a problem to any extent more than possibly reducing the amount of mowing needed. It doesn't even affect the grass enough to increase susceptibility to browning in the Summer.

The mats are damned expensive though. Toolstation's were a tenner / m^2 or so when I saw them last week, and they're just plastic.

As to milkcrates, then where do you find a milkcrate these days? I could do with a few for SUDS, can't find them anywhere.

[Steve Firth]

I don't need to, I've got various tracks around the farm. They're clear of grass except down the centre of the track. For some of them if they see one vehicle movement a week it's a busy week.

One lane was untouched for a year and was covered in grass. A couple of drives over it and it was back down to the shingle.

[Stephen Howard]

The rock n' roll guys have nicked 'em all. They use them to stash all their beer in then turn them upside down to make excellent amp stands. Some of them even remember to take the beers out first.

Regards,

[Andy Dingley]

Then your shingle is too high, relative to the mat. The purpose of the mat is to provide a roadway surface _above_ the level that will irrepairably crush the grass. Sounds like your is below this (i.e. the grass' bed is too high). I suspect a more resilient "soil" rather than shingle might help too.

[Clive George]

Is this talking cross purposes? ISTM Steve's talking about shingle with no mats on the lane, and mats elsewhere.

[Steve Firth]

There's no mat.

If you refer to the original post by Tim S, the one that I replied to, you will dind that he (and I) were talking about the use of aggregate + soil without a mat.

Perhaps a tad more care in reading would save you jumping in with both boots?

[damduck-egg]

Gave my father about a half a dozen that were an ideal shape when stacked to form vegetable racks,they had a cut out in the side so access could still be gained when stacked. When he finally pops his clogs and we hold the farm sale some of his neighbours will wonder how he acquired a load of milk crates from New Zealand Dairies. I obtained them when a Yacht * offloaded them in Southampton. The other thing I don't seem to see as much of is the old wooden tea chest though to be fair some of the more decent plastic/GRP crates designed for the job of moving things are better.

• It was the larger of the two in this picture G.Harman

[PM]

Well, when my MIL had her bathroom re-done, the fitter took out the old sunken bath to find that the only support it had was a pair of milk crates.