Allotment - path ideas

Posts

• Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494

  January 2019

  You're probably right in that the wood chips would be kicked onto the allotment, but you could still erect a wooden edging around the plot to keep it in place. You ought to check your allotment rules first though as you may find them forbidden and grass only paths allowed. In the olden days ! the paths were either grass or clinker as most people had coal fires then.

  North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone

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• Superhero Posts: 53

  January 2019

  Lizzie27 said:

  You're probably right in that the wood chips would be kicked onto the allotment, but you could still erect a wooden edging around the plot to keep it in place. You ought to check your allotment rules first though as you may find them forbidden and grass only paths allowed. In the olden days ! the paths were either grass or clinker as most people had coal fires then.

  I wouldn't mind putting some edging one, I am now more concerned that there may be pesticides in the trees that ended up as wood chips. I mean... how would I know?
  
  I believe it would be fine, I haven't read otherwise. I know that gravel isn't too popular but wood will rot down eventually anyway. The main paths are grass but I was thinking about the little paths on my own plot between beds.

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• Busy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043

  January 2019

  You would need to edge them. I found an article about wood chip paths in an allotment and how to make them. https://lovelygreens.com/create-wood-chip-garden-paths/ 
  

  Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.

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• Busy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043

  January 2019

  You would need to edge them. I found an article about wood chip paths in an allotment and how to make them. https://lovelygreens.com/create-wood-chip-garden-paths/ 
  

  Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.

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• Busy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043

  January 2019

  I lost Internet for a few seconds then and my post came up twice!
  

  Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.

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• raisingirl Posts: 7,093

  January 2019

  As long as its a reputable source, I doubt you'll have a chemical problem. If you put them directly onto the ground (no weed membrane underneath) they work as a mulch and rot into the soil. If you put down a weed membrane, the chips dry out and blow away and the membrane becomes a problem in itself (weeds seed onto it and the roots grow into the membrane, making them hard to get out) unless you use the really good stuff, which is expensive. So I expect the reason not many people have done it is that it's not a particularly low maintenance option and cutting the grass can, in the long run, be easier. I expect it makes a difference if you're a winter gardener, as well. If you only go to the lottie between March and October, you probably find grass is fine. If you're there a lot at this time of year, grass gets muddy and messy and bark chips would be more worth the extra cost.

  Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
  
  “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 

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• Hampshire_Hog Posts: 1,089

  January 2019

  I have used road scalping's on my new allotment as on previous allotments bark I found can become very wet and slippery after time, I use to lay down two or three layers of cardboard first then cover with the bark this seemed to stop any weeds.
  
  Scalping's this time, ground support fabric then 50 mm scalping's waked down. Very hard wearing and looks like the old cinder paths of years ago, it also means the wife can get around in her wheelchair and order me about 

  
  "You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog

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