Yesterday I successfully eliminated ALL of our grass... OK, well some of it is under a brand new beginning lasagna bed! I am excited, I do not like to mow, it always interfers with my care of what is important to me - FLOWERS!
We live in a humble little trailer/manufactured home/ mobile home (depends on the part of the world you are from WHAT ya call this house!). I have found the quotes I want to use finally over on the "favorite Garden quotes". On the riser of the front steps, "Bloom where you are planted". On another it will give my DH & my name & Established date (purchase of this house/marriage).
I am looking for suggestions for an inexpensive walkway material. Eventually I will mulch/bark ALL of the flower bed so I don't think continuing the bark would look "good". I have a nice winding path thru the garden. For now, in the beginning stages of all my flower beds etc, the path is defined by weed cloth. That helps me maintain the borders of my flowerbed as I continue to plant and plan.
The flower beds are very young, and not full yet, but I'll get there!
FINALLY!!! No more grass!!! WALKWAY suggestions??
Good for you! I think there might be some old threads on this forum about walkways... I seem to remember somebody using a mix of gravel and clay that pounded down into a nice surface (think of an old fashioned tennis court). I also like the look of some of the cobblestone molds for concrete, the kind that you set into place on your path and pour a 3-4 foot section, let it set up, then pour the next section. You might be able to pour your own stepping stones or pavers cheaper than buying them, also, maybe set them with gravel between (the rounded kind so it doesn't hurt your feet if you like going barefoot).
It'll be fun to watch your garden develop -- how exciting!!
One vote for flagstone (limestone) here. I don't know how much area you need to cover or what your budget is, but I'm doing mine pretty inexpensively. If you have a pit close to you, and you load the stone yourself it is really not so cost prohibitive. There is a quarry about 20 miles from where I live that lets you drive right down into the pit and pick out the pieces you want.
Good suggestion... and Idaho seems like a good place for rocks!
Whatever you choose, DO NOT choose DG (Decomposed Granite). It sticks to the soles of your shoes, and you will ruin your floors. I like DG, it's cheap and attractive, compacts nicely, but my new hardwood floors would be sanded to a pulp if I used it. (That is, soon as I put in the new hardwood floors!!) Pea Gravel would be a good substitute--I got that hint from a local nurseryman.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/680267/
Good pathway thread. I need to reread it myself.
The Master Gardener program here is making some stepping stones for a Cancer Memorial project. It's a really neat project, some other time maybe I'll talk about it more, but the stepping stones are being made of hypertufa - have you heard of it? I know some folks make pots out of it. It's a mixture of portland cement, perlite, sphagnum moss (I think) etc. - it makes items look like rock but is much lighter. Here's a site with recipe and directions and some other stuff: http://www.timpyworks.com/pamphlets/hypertufa-101/101.htmlq
The stones have been decorated with all sorts of stuff - glass, marbles, bits of metal - just about anything you could put into it, I would guess.
Let us know what you end up doing!
I may use stepping stones for VERY temporary or simply give up and realize that no matter WHAT material I use, it will not be suitable for my husband's walking thru. He needs VERY stable footing material, gravel is not even real suitable, I can't imagine anything but poured cement walk ways being adequate and it will be a LONG time before we can afford that.
I have not yet experimented with hyperturfa but I have been reading, ohhing and awwing over it for some time now. I have regular cement stepping stone molds.
Hey Pat! Congrats on all the work you've been doing. You gotta get a camera to post some photos! (How about one of those disposible cameras ... when you go to develop it, have them put the photos on a CD! :-)) Or do the photo places even do that anymore??? LOL! With all this digital stuff, I don't know what is in and what isn't! lol
How about making word stones to put in around your garden beds:
http://www.wordsandcrafts.com/stones/wisindex3.html
I am seriously thinking of doing that down the road when I have more of my lawn gone, too!
THOSE are cool!!! did you see the marker stones? I wonder if they would help with the gardeners who lose some of their markers to the squirrels etc. I will have to keep those in mind. "Bloom where you are planted" is what I want to paint on the riser of our exterior porch steps. Then, on another riser, "Ben & Pat Hull, established 2006".
I want "I LIVE in the garden, I only sleep in the house" put up on the area above my door in the master bedroom.
Our course I also want the :
"The secret of my success"
Early to bed,
Early to rise,
Water like he**
and Fertilize! Somewhere in my garden but not where EVERYBODY can see it.
Pat - Something that I am planning to do is use a wood-burning tool and a piece of deco wood from the local craft store and I will print out a pattern to fit the area on the piece of wood and use graphite paper to trace the pattern on the wood. I am going to make a "Welcome to Our Garden" sign and "Welcome to Our Home" sign for the front and back of my arbor. I am planning to either paint the wood or stain and spray with some kind of anti-yellowing glossy finish. And then hang it by small chains to the top of my arbor entrance.
I got the wood-burning kit, using a 50% off coupon at Michael's Craft Store locally, several months ago. So I think I paid $15 for it. :-) The wood was only a $1.50 each and the graphite paper was a $1.00 each. So not too bad to make a nice deco sign. I was also thinking of making more signs to place throughout my garden beds and mount them on wooden stakes cut at a 45 degree angle so you can easily read them. I was thinking of adding some small rub-on stickers with butterflies and hummingbirds to decorate the signs. This all sounds well and good. I haven't made one yet, so don't know how they will turn out. Since I have different garden rooms, I wanted to have a sign to state which room you are in.
Here's a photo of the wood-burning kit, wood, and graphite paper.
I really like the idea of labeling your rooms, that is cool.
My grass has all gone too and this was what we decided was the best solution as far as pathways go, in keeping with a cottage garden and without breaking the bank! The slabs in the middle make pushing a wheelbarrow easy and stop the pea gravel sticking to your shoes. It has a weedproof fabric underlay and at the moment the edges are just strips of 2x1. We will replace with something more decorative as funds allow.
Mmm - beautiful beds, okus!
OKus! Thats a great idea! I hadn't thought of putting the slabs back to back and filling around them with pea gravel. I thought of pea gravel but it doesn't stablize for good enough walkways for my husband. This is the best idea I've seen yet. Thanks for sharing!
okus, that's a GORGEOUS bed!
Thank-you all for those kind words, so far I'm rather pleased with it too!12 months ago it was all a very boring lawn. DH and I double dug the whole of it laid out the paths and bought a few key plants. The rest is either annuals or grown from seed. Its amazing how well dahlias do from seed.
This was taken at the begining of April just after we finished the paths. It has changed a bit since then, jungle comes to mind!
Changed?? LOL, TRANSFORMED! beautiful, you must be VERY pleased with yourself, I would be!
I'll be a monkey in your jungle any day - great job!
psychw2, congratulations on getting rid of all your grass. It's a great feeling when you can get rid of that lawn mower isn't it? I've been grass free for about 10 years or so and still looking for a path solution I can afford and that is also practical for me to do myself. I considered doing the molded concrete steps, but lifting those 60 pound bags of concrete mix is just more than my 60 year old back can handle. Your right about the pea gravel not being a very stable walking surface. I first did my front path in peagravel, but have since added pavers to make it safer to walk on. I have mine further apart than okus, but they fit my step just right. After seeing okus's I may add more as I can afford them. I do find that sometimes the pea gravel gets up on the pavers and then they are slippery. My back paths are bark and that means it's not permanent and also weeds grow in it even with the weed cloth underneath. I'll be interested in seeing what you come up with. If I could afford it, I think poured concrete with a stone pattern printed into it would be ideal. Not sure what the next people to buy this house would think of that though.
Susan
Susan, your garden pic is GORGEOUS! show me more!
I once used that concrete form thing to make a flagstone like walk. It looked fine but I love my real one. Here is a link to one of my favorite shots of it
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quiltdiva/2221452306/in/set-72157600226371125/
that is beautiful Cactus.
Lincoln - what about the rubber mulch instead of the wood?
Thanks. Haven't heard of rubber mulch but wouldn't that smell like a tire store?
I have heard very mixed reviews of the rubber mulch. It is made from shredded tires and some people it is a BAD product, others have said they have been glad they used it so...
I have some of the red rubber mulch around my yard. It lasts a long time. It does smell like tires (rubber) for a while until the weather tones it down and eventually eliminates the smell. Mine was somehow painted red, and it is still red after 4 years. But it will eventually fade to black. I live in Florida where it is quite hot. The mulch does heat up when the sun shines on it. And of course it doesn't absorb moisture, so it might be best used around shrubs or drought tolerant plants unless you live in a mild zone. I have drought tolerant plants growing in the areas I use this mulch. It is very expensive, too. But after 4 years, it is now cheaper considering I would've spent that amount replacing wood mulch every year for those 4 years. I forget how many years it is supposed to keep it's painted color and being rubber it will last for at least 10 years (though it will be black color by then).
I don't know how harmful it is to the environment. But using as shredded mulch probably beats it clogging up the landfills with discarded whole tires. It does keep out the weeds! Better than wood mulch because it doesn't break down and eventually let the weeds back in. :-) It is more bulky to walk on. So if you are prone to tripping or falling, it might not be a good idea to use for a walkway or path.
Anyway, that's my experience with the rubber mulch. :-) I hope it helps those interested to make an educated choice about whether to use it or not.
Thanks Becky - that does help.
Makes me think if it's in areas that won't be disturbed much, it might be good - just not too good in areas where it will be spread around by feet, animals, raking, etc.
I took mine up and threw it away. Grass grows up through it, at least the kind we have here (St. Augustine and Bermuda). Pull up the grass, pull up the mulch. Grrr...