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Garden Gravel

Gravel is an inexpensive and flexiblealternative to paving or a lawn,although it is nor suitable for a patio.It blends beautifully with plants, needslittle maintenance, and can be used inboth formal and informal designs. It isalso a useful 'filler' material to useamong other hard surfaces, or inirregularly shaped areas where pavingwill not easily fit and a lawn would bedifficult to mow.

Types of gravel

Gravel comes in many different shapes,sizes and colours. Some types areangular, others rounded, some arewhite, others assorted shades of greenor red. All of them will look differentin sun or shade, when wet or dry. Thesubtle change of colour and mood isone of the appeals of gravel. Thegravels available will depend on whereyou live, and which ones can betransported economically from furtherafield. Shop around first going togarden centres and builders merchantsto see what is available in your areabefore making your choice.

Many garden centres and stonemerchants sell, or can obtain, a widerange of gravels in different sizes andcolours. You will find the appearancechanges according to the light andwhether the stones are wet or dry.

Gravel gardens can be a formal orinformal shape, but an edging of somekind is required otherwise the gravelwill become scattered into surroundinggarden beds.

Gravel paths

Gravel is often used for drives, but it isalso a good choice for informal pathswithin the garden. It conforms to anyshape so is useful for paths thatmeander. However, it is not a goodchoice for paths where you will haveto wheel the mower. Fine gravel is anideal ground covering for a Japanese-style garden design.

1. Excavate the area to a depth of about10 cm/4 in, with a slight slope to avoidwaterlogging after heavy rain. If the gravelgarden is low-lying or in a hollow, providea sump for excess water to drain into.

2. Make sure the surface is reasonablysmooth, then lay thick plastic sheetingover the area (to suppress weed growth).Overlap the joints.

3. Tip the gravel over the plastic sheet,and rake it level. It can be difficult tojudge how deeply or evenly the gravel isbeing spread once the plastic sheet hasbeen covered, so if necessary carefullyscrape hack the gravel occasionally tocheck progress.

4. If you want to plant through the gravel,scoop hack the gravel to expose the plasticsheer. Then make cross-slits through theplastic with a knife.

5. Make the planting hole with a trowel,enrich the soil with garden compost andfertilizer and plant- normally. Fold back thesheet, and replace the gravel withoutcovering the crown if it's a small plant.

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