On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 11:55:30 GMT, "peterlsutton"
wrote:

~
~"Broadback" wrote in message
...
~ I am about to make quite a lot of path round my raised beds. I intend
~ laying weed suppressing fabric then pebbles on top. Apart from being
~ clear for walking it will (I trust) stop the weeds from the area
~ surrounding the beds migrating into the beds themselves. However
~ pebbles specifically for paths seems to me rather expensive, can I use
~ ordinary builders pebbles successfully? Also any ideas on quantity
~ required, for, say, a square meter?
~
~
~Yes you can, its excellent. I went through this exercise a couple of years
~ago. Builders usually supply 10 mm gravel for adding to concrete and a
~larger 20 mm gravel. You will probably want the larger, but go and have a
~look. You can buy it by the ton, which is not as much as it sounds. It
~comes in a non returnable bag (big!) and should be delivered free if you are
~not too far away. The cost will be £26 or just over. They do not weigh it,
~a ton is just a big scoop by an excavator, so it is a bit variable. It is
~probably about half a cubic meter, so you will get roughly 10 sq meters of
~5cms depth (2"). It does not go as far as you think. I needed three tons
~for an open area, I bought an initial single ton just to see how far it
~would go. Ask at the yard, they will probably sell and deliver any amount
~loose from half a ton.
~
~I am very pleased with it. It is so much cheaper than buying by the bag and
~it looks very good. An additional reason for this choice was that having a
~fancy coloured gravel is like having a plain carpet. If you get leaves,
~soil or loose stones on it, it will show up like a sore thumb. By contrast
~the builders gravel is mottled and does not show.
~
~
You are obviously both lucky enough to have stone-free soil! I am
filling up my paths with flints sieved from the beds as I pick over
them - so gradually I'm getting nicer soil and free paths as well. But
it takes forever...

Good luck from me, too.
--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!