Gravel or pebbles

[Hypatia Nachshon]

I am hurrying to get City rebate for removing lawn before they run out of money.

The curse of this street is horrible tree that sheds needles, sharp seeds, and sap, and obscures plantings. Everybody hates them. City will not remove.

My neighbor took out his grass and spread mulch, but his new "lawn" is immediately covered with needles. It looks awful as he knew going in.

Needles cannot be removed from mulch with blower. I just spent an hour cleaning out my beds by hand.

To the point: I am considering either pebbles or gravel with a few drought-adapted large plants. Yes I know...

I THINK one could blow needles off pebbles. Could one do it off gravel?

Pebbles more expensive than gravel?

Any experience/advice gratefully received,

HB

[Brooklyn1]

Pebbles/gravel migrate, those friggin' stones will be everywhere they don't belong, you'll be a slave to picking them up, you'll be very sorry you ever bought them... won't be long they'll work their way into your soil, you'll never get rid of the curse. You'll fare much better with an organic mulch, pine bark nuggets work well, I like the large ones. Nuggets migrate too but at least they decay, and they won't wreck your lawn mower.

[David E. Ross]

I asked my favorite landscape contractor about placing pea gravel in my parkway (aka verge, parking strip, the space between the sidewalk and the curb). He said that 1/2-inch or 3/4-inch gravel would be easier to keep clean.

Under the gravel, he would place landscape cloth. This allows rain to penetrate but blocks weeds from rooting.

I would have the 5 lawn sprinklers removed from the parkway. They would be replaced with 2 bublers placed in 3-inch vertical irrigation tubes (perforated plastic pipe filled with gravel) to water my street tree and the ivy on my mailbox.

I am waited for his cost estimate. Since the parkway is now cinquefoil and weeds but not grass, I get no rebate from my water service. Tomorrow, I plan to shut down the sprinklers except for one that waters the ivy and one that waters the tree.

[songbird]

Hypatia Nachshon wrote: ...

i would not ever use rocks under a tree or in any other area that might get debris from a plant. it's just too hard to keep weeds from getting going in the rocks once the moisture levels get high enough to sprout seeds.

if, however, you are bound and determined to use gravel, use larger stones (that won't move around as much, pea gravel goes all over the place) and put them down deep enough that any seeds that fall into them will not germinate. this will keep the weeding down for a while, but eventually when the rocks fill up with enough debris they'll need to be cleaned out again to get the less weed sprouting conditions restored. underlayment weed barrier is very much worth the effort. keeps the seeds from the subsoil being moved around and then sprouting.

the only areas that are nice for smaller pebbles are the sorts of gardens where you might want to do the raked patterns like a Japanese garden. which implies that most leaves/debris are picked up frequently and it's not impossible to weed such a small space.

songbird

[Andy Morley]

I don't think gravel or pebbles is the right way to go. Personally, I think slabs would look better and it wouldn't make garden look messy. If not, then consider artificial grass as that would still give the "lawn" look but would be easily taken care of if any needles did fall. It would further stop and of the problems that you are having with your "lawn" at the minuet.

Hope you find this useful :D

[Hypatia Nachshon]

way to go. In small spaces between slabs, I could put a very flat, hardy ground cover like dymondia,(sp?) which I have between stepping stones to si de gate. Would be much easier to sweep/blow off hated tree needles.

Hope they aren't too expensive. This is just for a parking strip, BTW, not for whole lawn. If slab is a budget buster, I have a lot of used brick st acked up in back that I could form into [shapes].

Thanks for great suggestion, Andy, and thanks also to other kind NG members .

HB

[David E. Ross]

No matter what you use, consider landscape cloth underneath. It is sufficiently porous to allow rain and other water to penetrate to the soil below it but dense enough to prevent weeds from rooting.

If you want a few plants in the strip, you can poke holes in the cloth to plant them. If you want to plant a ground cover between stone slabs or bricks, however, then forgo the landscape cloth.

[Hypatia Nachshon]

ter way to go. In small spaces between slabs, I could put a very flat, har dy ground cover like dymondia,(sp?) which I have between stepping stones to side gate. Would be much easier to sweep/blow off hated tree needles.

not for whole lawn. If slab is a budget buster, I have a lot of used bric k stacked up in back that I could form into [shapes].

Thank you, David; your input is worth considering.

However, I wonder whether weeds would really stand a chance from underneath a heavy concrete slab, so maybe landscape cloth not needed.

Any experience out there?

HB

[David E. Ross]

The problem would be weeds trying to grow in the gaps between slabs or bricks. I have a brick path from the public sidewalk to my front door. I can hardly insert the blade of a paring knife between the bricks. Small weeds do try to grow there anyway.

[Hypatia Nachshon]

etter way to go. In small spaces between slabs, I could put a very flat, h ardy ground cover like dymondia,(sp?) which I have between stepping stones to side gate. Would be much easier to sweep/blow off hated tree needles.

W, not for whole lawn. If slab is a budget buster, I have a lot of used br ick stacked up in back that I could form into [shapes].

eath a heavy concrete slab, so maybe landscape cloth not needed.

Would this be a case where the Herbicide That Cannot Be Named should be app lied?

HB

[David E. Ross]

It's too much bother for me, measuring and mixing. I have to wait for a day when the air is calm. Afterwards, I have to clear the sprayer so that I can use it on the plants I want to keep.

Note that the above rant is based on my actual use of the unnamed herbicide. I generally use it only on my hill, on larger weeds.

[Moe DeLoughan]

Boiling water works a treat. Oops. Guess that's not a popular suggestion in California right now.

Incidentally, I've laid two patios using pavers/decking squares made of wood instead of brick or rock. The main reason for going with wood decking squares was that I wanted to ensure moisture permeability, so the tree roots in the area would continue to receive water. The secondary reason was that the wood pavers are much lighter weight and thus easier/faster to install. The unexpected benefit of a wood surface is that is much cooler underfoot and does not refract much heat into the surrounding area, especially compared to brick/stone/concrete surfaces.

[Hypatia Nachshon]

better way to go. In small spaces between slabs, I could put a very flat, hardy ground cover like dymondia,(sp?) which I have between stepping stone s to side gate. Would be much easier to sweep/blow off hated tree needles.

BTW, not for whole lawn. If slab is a budget buster, I have a lot of used brick stacked up in back that I could form into [shapes].

rneath a heavy concrete slab, so maybe landscape cloth not needed.

Yes, I use boiling water for pesky weeds that spring up between cracks in b ackyard concrete apron in front of garage.

I didn't know here was such a thing. Went online and looked; gorgeous, but too pricey for my budget. Also no trees on lawn proper; only on parking strip, ergo no significant tree root problem.

Actually, I wish those trees would die so City could replace with something better. Horrible needles, seeds, sap. But they will outlive me :(

HB