GardenBanter.co.uk - Re(2): planning for next year!!

writes:

Well, a ton of pea gravel here is 10 dollars. It's kind of a luxury
item that I have stashed away some change for. I hid it so we don't
spend it on anything else. :D It may not be a luxurious thick path of
gravel but it'll help with the sog.

It hadn't occurred to me to mention this before, but this message brought
it to mind.

If you are going to put down gravel, the best way is to put construction
fabric underneath it. For the garden, it's perfect because if you change
your mind later, you can relatively easily remove the gravel which you
cannot if you lay it directly on the soil. (It takes far less gravel for
the same thing.)

If you are fortunate, you can talk to an excavation contractor or
road-building contractor and get some scraps. There are two kinds, felted
and woven. IMO, you definitely want the woven; I'm concerned about the
felted sluffing too much chemical. The woven is like a heavy-duty tarp.
While nylon tarps would work for the short term, the construction fabric
is manufactured for heavy loads. It's used to lay under the gravel on
streets/highways/driveways to reduce the mixing of dirt and gravel. It
results in less gravel being used and better compaction which results in
longer-lasting roads.

Your county or state road department should be able to give you a lead on
where to get it. It's called geotextile road fabric. It's very difficult
to put a hole in it and impossible to tear, but it cuts easily with a
utility knife.

I am fortunate enough to have a large scrap which I use for a tarp when I
haul yard debris (and a smaller one to pile it on before loading). I lay
it in the back of the pickup with half of it over the cab, load the
debris, cover it with the half from the front, toss a couple of ropes
across it and head for the recycling center. The load is secure for
hauling (no litter left along the way), and it makes the unloading easy.
If I have help, one of us grabs each corner at the tailgate and pull the
entire load off, pick up the "tarp," fold it, and head for home while
others are still shoveling and raking.

With your messages, I think I shall evaluate exactly how much I have and
use it for at least one pathway next year, the fabric covered with hay
should work well. (I don't want to mess with cleaning up the gravel to
rototill.) The fabric will retard weed growing under it and the hay will
make it look nicer as well as becoming mulch. Unlike plastic, it's not
affected by weather so it won't disintegrate and make a mess like even the
heaviest plastic eventually does.

Thank you for mentioning it. :-)

Glenna