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A garden makeover- grass to gravel - advice needed

RyanprossRyanpross Posts: 3
edited June 2018 in Garden design
Hello, 

My first post and i am looking for some advice. I am going to change my mothers front garden as she doesn't have time to tend to it as she is getting on a bit. I myself haven't got the time to keep coming back and weeding it. She lives on an avenue so trees shade the grass and it has become mostly moss. She has a large back garden as well so this just makes it a full time chore  The pictures show its current state. (sorry for the large pictures, couldn't make them smaller)





I am planning on digging it all up and graveling it with a few raised beds. I am going to be lifting a re-laying the slabs that make up the drive/path to the house and edging them with concrete edging slabs to hold them in.

I will then be doing a quarter circle brick wall 2 bricks high around the beach and the Fatsia.

I have spoken to someone with a mini digger who is willing to come and remove 100mm of soil and level it all out, and will organise a skip to dispose of the soil. 

Now comes the part where i am uncertain what to do. As it is just a garden do i need a sub-base? i have had conflicting advice on what to do. I was going to put down 50-60mm of MOT type 1 on top of a Geo-textile membrane and wacker it down then finish with 40mm of pink/grey granite chippings. Would this be the best way to do it or am i over/under doing it?


The birch trees are going to stay but thats bout it.

This is a rough drawing of my plan below.



Thankyou for taking time to read this and i would appreciate any advice.

Ryan
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Posts

  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    If it's only going to take pedestrian traffic you are possibly doing more than strictly necessary as far as the base is concerned.  When we had ours done it was 100 mm of base and 40mm of gravel and that's for a car hard standing too.  What you are doing will certainly give you a good solid structure and is unlikely to settle.
  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    Definitely overdoing it when it will get very little pedestrian traffic. Remove the grass, put down your membrane and then the gravel The membrane will not make it entirely weed free forever but it will stop the gravel working its way into the earth. 
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    The vendors of gravel and the landscape gardeners who lay it would like you to think it's low maintenance compared to grass, and that may be true in the short term, but it still needs regular weeding.  Dirt collects in the gravel, seeds blow in on the wind and get dropped by birds, and they'll find enough to live on in the gravel.  "Weedproof" membranes only stop the weeds coming up from below.  They are easily penetrated by roots from above.  If you hoe the weeds off frequently they won't get established.  But if they're left too long you can't pull them out without the roots dragging the membrane with them.  We had all this with my mum's garden.  Have you costed all this?  I think the money would be better spent on a more efficient mower, or paying someone to cut the grass.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    I think the money would be better spent on a more efficient mower, or paying someone to cut the grass.

    I was thinking the same.



  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    My four pennorth, for what it's worth, would be to take up the existing turf and small paving stones, and relay a lawn to cover the whole area. Leave small beds around the trees so the grass doesn't grow right up to them, and relay the existing paving stones so that they are level and not a trip hazard for your mum. Pay someone to cut the grass on a regular basis. Did you want the raised beds as somewhere for your mum to "potter", or  are they so she can see some colour from the windows?
    As stated above, gravel is not necessarily the easy care option that you would think!  :)
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    No, I have to disagree with the new lawn option. As it's under trees it will always be full of moss and hard work to maintain. Also, paying someone to cut the grass on a regular basis doesn't come cheap. A membrane base topped up with a good layer of gravel would be far easier and cheaper to maintain in the long run, even if you do have to weed occasionally or you could use weedkiller of course. I would go easy on the raised beds if you do not have a lot of time - one would be quite sufficient with spring bulbs and easy small plants.  Levelling the paving slabs so they are not a trip hazard must be a priority.
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    Your plan sounds very costly and labour intensive.    

    Keep it simple by leveling the whole area, fixing the slab path next to the house for safe and easy access  and then lay membrane and gravel on the rest.   Place a few slabs through the gravel as stepping stones for stability as gravel won't be easy as she gets older.   

    You can hire a turf cutter from good DIY stores to remove the grass.   Don't even need to fork over the soil other than to level it before you peg down membrane.   Keep that purple foliage in the corner and maybe plant one or two easy going but attractive shrubs along the fence boundary for interest.

    You can add pots or troughs of low maintenance plants by the front door to make it look welcoming and give extra colour and ring the changes thru the year.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    We've had a front lawn of similar dimensions replaced with gravel and it requires very little maintenance.  I spray it every couple of months in the summer months, which takes about 10 minutes, and pull out any weeds that appear in between sprayings.  Certainly far less work than the grass was.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,530
    Would your mum consider moving to a retirement flat?  Some of them are surrounded by lovely grounds which neither she nor you would have to tend. 
  • KT53KT53 Posts: 9,016
    Move house in preference to digging up a bit of grass seems a drastic solution.  Moving house potentially costs thousands of pounds these days.
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