Agree with the others who say you have not measured correctly. Difficult to tell from your photo, but I would also say that about 3-5 bags would do. We have covered much larger areas with gravel, and didn't need to buy anywhere near 16 bags.
In London we pay £50 for a dumpy bag of pea gravel, so that would be no more than about £250 for 5 bags, and I doubt you need that many. If you live outside London it may be even cheaper. Do invest in some sort of membrane, otherwise the weeds will be through in no time.
Like the fact that you have broken the area up, forcing people to meander through the garden. It will look great once those trees mature, and stop the eye from being able to see the whole garden all at once.
We use bark chippings for the paths on our allotment. They break down remarkably quickly, turning into soil, and are loved by the weeds. May be cheaper, but I think you would regret it in the long run.
The trouble with bark is that it breaks down, so you're constantly needing to replace. Gravel is much more durable. After thinking about it - I'd still say 2 or 3 bags is on the light side. I used two bags here for my paths. I doubt it's anywhere near the square footage of the OP's plot. Get large gravel or you'll have the same problem with r*ddy cats. I used a golden gravel - 20mm size
Hope you get sorted anyway @februarysgirl, whatever you decide to go for - and it's ok, we won't say anything to your OH!
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Hello February'sGirl. Love the design. Only alternative I can think of would be bark mulch, over a really tough, thick membrane. You might have to top it up every couple of years and there will be occasional weeds but it's probably cheaper than gravel.
Most lawns though will survive heatwaves, you just have to be patient and wait for them to regenerate. Keeping them well watered, fed and weedfree also helps. You could just rake over the bare bits and re-seed, rather than turf. Put a shed alarm and a very strong padlock on the shed to deter burglars and put trellis fencing all along the fences (agreed with neighbours if necessary) to stop people climbing over.
I can't really take credit for the design, I pinched it from Pinterest 🤭
The lawn had issues other than the slew of dandelions before the heatwave, the heatwave was just the last straw. My mum died in 2018 and towards the end, she couldn't do much at all which was a shame because she loved the garden. I've found it difficult the last couple of years not to think of everything in terms of what I'll be able to do in 20-25 years time which of course is utterly impossible to tell. Would I be able to properly tend a lawn then? I don't know, but if I figured if I'm going to spend money on redoing the garden, I might as well do it in a way where it would still work for me if I become less mobile. Don't want the money and hassle of doing it all over again!
When they did our shed they ignored the padlock and yanked the door off of the hinges. It was a pretty old and rubbish shed though and they didn't find anything in there except a higgledy piggledy mess. A lot of people get power tools nicked but I keep mine in the house. I never keep anything of value in the shed. I'm sort of fortunate with the back fence, it backs on to a bit of fenced off scrap land that's so overgrown it's impossible to access.
@KeenOnGreen I can't wait until the trees mature, it's going to be great! I'm hoping to be able to put an arbor under the hawthorn but I'll have to give it a few years first.
@Fairygirl I spoke with someone at Stonewarehouse a few months ago for advice on gravel and cats and they said to get large angular so I'm going for moonstone 15-22mm. The colours will still match as the wood ages I already told OH and he called me a pillock 😆
@Fire I don't think our cat would appreciate a sonic device. He does have an indoor tray but I have caught him in the flowerbeds a couple of times. There's not much I can do about the other five or six cats that visit our garden😕
Your beds look nicely planted and you seem to have designed it according to your needs. I know there is a lot of controversy about fake grass. astro turf, call it what you want but as a temporary(ish? ) measure, would it be worth looking at ? Or a combination of the two ? Don't know what the cost is as opposed to gravel ? Strong weed membrane and bark chippings perhaps ? Grassed areas with strategically placed stepping stones ? I'm presuming you want a walkway/path from one end to the other ? Hopefully you will get some advice/ideas from others
Thanks although I'm already thinking of making changes 😆 I want to add containers to soften the edges of the beds and round the corners, put in a mini pond and just generally add more foliage. It's going to take some time!
100% no to fake grass though I do like the idea of stepping stones 🙂
Water scarecrow is the only thing that works @februarysgirl. Well- you'll be a pillock with a nicely toning garden
Can't do anything regarding the cat issue as we have a cat ourselves. I'm probably making a rod for my own back, but I'm putting a little cat garden around the cat house with cat grass and catnip. It's probably a flawed logic but I'm hoping they'll be too nipped up to think about using the beds.
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In London we pay £50 for a dumpy bag of pea gravel, so that would be no more than about £250 for 5 bags, and I doubt you need that many. If you live outside London it may be even cheaper. Do invest in some sort of membrane, otherwise the weeds will be through in no time.
Like the fact that you have broken the area up, forcing people to meander through the garden. It will look great once those trees mature, and stop the eye from being able to see the whole garden all at once.
We use bark chippings for the paths on our allotment. They break down remarkably quickly, turning into soil, and are loved by the weeds. May be cheaper, but I think you would regret it in the long run.
Try a different calculator:
https://www.stonewarehouse.co.uk/tools/calculator?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhtT1BRCiARIsAGlY51L9u452k7i8kt97yyHhGF_qCykIP2zYYZ2qmRVokHJXSjKg5_CpuxEaAqqoEALw_wcB
Gravel is much more durable.
After thinking about it - I'd still say 2 or 3 bags is on the light side. I used two bags here for my paths. I doubt it's anywhere near the square footage of the OP's plot.
Get large gravel or you'll have the same problem with r*ddy cats.
I used a golden gravel - 20mm size
Hope you get sorted anyway @februarysgirl, whatever you decide to go for - and it's ok, we won't say anything to your OH!
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The lawn had issues other than the slew of dandelions before the heatwave, the heatwave was just the last straw. My mum died in 2018 and towards the end, she couldn't do much at all which was a shame because she loved the garden. I've found it difficult the last couple of years not to think of everything in terms of what I'll be able to do in 20-25 years time which of course is utterly impossible to tell. Would I be able to properly tend a lawn then? I don't know, but if I figured if I'm going to spend money on redoing the garden, I might as well do it in a way where it would still work for me if I become less mobile. Don't want the money and hassle of doing it all over again!
When they did our shed they ignored the padlock and yanked the door off of the hinges. It was a pretty old and rubbish shed though and they didn't find anything in there except a higgledy piggledy mess. A lot of people get power tools nicked but I keep mine in the house. I never keep anything of value in the shed. I'm sort of fortunate with the back fence, it backs on to a bit of fenced off scrap land that's so overgrown it's impossible to access.
@Fairygirl I spoke with someone at Stonewarehouse a few months ago for advice on gravel and cats and they said to get large angular so I'm going for moonstone 15-22mm. The colours will still match as the wood ages
@Fire I don't think our cat would appreciate a sonic device. He does have an indoor tray but I have caught him in the flowerbeds a couple of times. There's not much I can do about the other five or six cats that visit our garden😕
Water scarecrow is the only thing that works @februarysgirl.
Well- you'll be a pillock with a nicely toning garden
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
100% no to fake grass though I do like the idea of stepping stones 🙂