snowathlete writes:

'David Hare-Scott[_2_ Wrote:
;958901']snowathlete wrote:-
I have a border in my garden with lots of rhodedendrons and azaleas. I
have ill health now so i need to make the garden easier to maintain.
There are lots of weeds at the moment, which i plan to have removed.
Then some weed control fabric and stone chippings.
Cotswold stone chippings would be great, but probably would affect the
ph too much. Is that right?

If it is, then what alternatives do i have? Are there most neutral or
acid stones out there?

I dont really want to use bark or wood chippings because i dont like
the look really.

thanks
joel-

It would take a *very* long time as limestone is only slightly soluble
and
in the form of chips there is little surface area so the process will be

slowed down. For agricultural use it is ground very fine, that is the
surface area is millions of times more per kilo, and even then it takes

months to start to work. I am not in a position to work the numbers but
my
guess is that if you lived to 100 the pH wouldn't change much if at all.

The breakdown of organics that produce acids might be enough to
counteract
the effect and so there would be even less change or none.

Most stone is neutral for gardening purposes, limestone being an
exception,
ask your landscape supplier what they have.

David


Thank you everyone for your replies so far; very helpful.
Cotswold stone would be best for two reasons, 1. my local garden centre
have BOGOF on £5 a back, which is a pretty good price. 2. my house is
made of cotswold stone, so it would match up nicely.

But im still unsure. David's reply gives me hope, and if i washed it all
before putting it down (to get rid of the dust that it comes with
initially) then maybe it would be ok. But then other places ive seen
online say to avoid it, so im still not sure. It would be dreadful if i
lost all my favourite plants...

Granite is a nice idea, i could get some nice red granite perhaps, would
cost abit more about £100 as apposed to £60 for the cotswold stone.

Dan, its reasuring that you used white marble and havent had any
problems. I am leaning toward cotswold stone, but im still not sure...

Costwald Stone is Calcium Carbonate.
Same material as Marble.

My Rhodedendron is blooming right now.
Looks great.

I wouldn't worry about the dust.
White Marble comes with a lot of dust.
It doesn't seem to matter.

If your house is Cotswold Stone then you've had
water running off your house onto the ground for
years.

--
Dan Espen