"'Mike'" wrote in message
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"Janet Tweedy" wrote in message
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Someone i know has a 12 foot long front garden with a very wide shrub bed
(no grass) and a hard surface wide enough for 1 car. She has a very
small car herself so would like to pinch a bit of the soil to park her
car next to her husband's as they live near to a corner and it's a bit of
a hazard to park on the actual road ..
She only needs about an additional width of five feet at most for her
car.
Could she put down some sort of weed suppressant and gravel just to get
the extra parking surface or would that not take the weight of a car?
I'm no DIY expert when it comes to hard landscaping etc. so i wasn't sure
what to advise her.
Janet
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Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk
You say it's a shrub border with no grass. Assuming some of the shrubs are
to be removed to make room, that will disturb the soil and make it soft
and unstable. Drive a car onto that and only a little rain will cause
untold problems.
Clear the shrubs disturbing the soil as little as possible.
If working to a budget, level the soil and pack it down by heeling it in
all over. Compact it as much as possible.
(I had to do all of this when I moved into my present house where the
garden goes through to the next road)
If you can, or your friend can, access small hardcore, I had a plentiful
supply of bricks etc which I broke down to nothing bigger than chicken egg
size, and stamp all of this in.
For a quick and 'attractive' finish, two rows of paving slabs laid on this
hard base with gravel between, OR, just gravel. Not Pea Gravel or she will
have all the cats in the neighbourhood.
The secret is the hard base to start with. Don't just drive on the earth
:-((
Been there. Done that. Had the hard standing.
Mike
Found this photo. Nothing but hardcore and pea gravel in this case which was
very very shallow. Sprayed with a weed killer when required. Lasted 20 years
with no problems.
http://www.myalbum.com/Album-HQUHRRW...-of-Other.html
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Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive
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