On 4/11/2009 3:28 PM, Zootal wrote:
I would welcome comments from some of you more experirenced gardners. My
garden consists of about a dozen beds of various sizes (15x5 being common)
with grass walkways in between. The walkways are wide enough to run a lawn
mower through them. I've considered killing the grass. I have an old
swimming pool liner that I am thinking of cutting up into strips and laying
it on the walkways for a while, so I can kill the grass without resorting to
chemicals.

Any thoughts of having grass near and through a garden? Is it likely to
house and breed flea beetles and other insects, and would you recommend
getting rid of it? Or would you consider it to be harmless and possible
aesthetically pleasing (it does look nice in the summer to have nice green
pathways through the garden)



If the grass is becoming a maintenance problem, replace it with
decomposed granite (DG) walkways. The walkways through my garden
consist of a 3-inch layer of DG over ground cloth and framed with some
kind of composition boards. The ground cloth is porous but has such a
fine mesh that weed roots do not penetrate; thus, weeding is easy. The
walkways drain quite well.

If you are in a climate where the soil freezes, you might need a thicker
layer of DG. Also, the surface of the DG should be even with the
surrounding beds. This means digging down at least 3 inches. Also, if
you have any appreciable slope, you might need some of the framing to
cross the walkway to inhibit erosion.

After being wet by my garden sprinklers, drying, being walked upon, and
then all that repeated about 3-4 times, a DG walkway sets up quite firm.
I can even rake leaves and other garden debris from it. But it cannot
be swept with a broom without having to replace some of the DG.

I still have a grass lawn, but it is quite small. It's red fescue
(Festuca rubra), an ornamental grass that grows about 6-12 inches high
and flops over. I can walk on it, but it's not intended for children to
play ball on it. It gets mowed 1-2 times a year (especially in the
fall, so that I can rake leaves off it).

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary