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Make a gravel area less stark..

lesleywmU65roHlesleywmU65roH Posts: 10
in Problem solving
Hi, new here..we moved into a sheltered housing bungalow six months ago; it's got a fair sized back garden which is terraced and slabbed in the main, but there are three decent borders which I've worked on all spring and now look pretty vibrant if I say so meself!!

BUT..there's a large-ish rectangle of gravel (maybe 2 x 4 metres) and the combination of the grey slabs and grey gravel is too dire for me.  We lifted a few slabs to make a small lawn elsewhere, but the gravel area is outside the back door and has the washing line over it, so will have to stay as I don't fancy a grassed area that will turn to mud in the winter..I should add that the lower part of the terrace gets extremely wet when it rains, although there's a newly installed drainage system that deals with the water reasonably well.

So (apologies for preamble!) I can't for the life of me think how to un-grey this gravel..there are some weeds breaking through, so presumably there's no membrane; I thought about throwing lots of chamomile or creeping thyme seeds around, but would that work? I have to walk on the gravel to hang washing and to reach one of the borders.  Or should I opt for a topping of, say, brightly coloured tumbled glass in some form, and if I do will it be safe for the dogs to walk on?

Any ideas hugely welcome.  Please bear in mind that I'm a touch ancient, with an artificial knee, so Big Landscape is beyond my powers!  Thanks in advance, Lesley

Posts

  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    Weeds will grow with a membrane because of the small amount of soil formed from natural rotting of bits of leaf, bird poo etc - luckily they're usually easy to pull.
    You could put some big pots/containers out to break it up, and a couple of bird feeders and a bird bath maybe?
  • lesleywmU65roHlesleywmU65roH Posts: 10
    Thankyou...without wishing to sound negative, because the washing line is across the area, I've already discovered that sheets and towels etc. blow around and knock stuff over, and feeding the birds is a whole other thing, because my rescue terrier will eat anything and everything that falls to the floor, including bird poo even, and then becomes sick and requires a vet visit of about £60...  To say nowt of attracting rats, as in the previous garden, tremendous fun for said terrier, but...horror show!!
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    Could you scrape aside a bit of the gravel to plant low-growing things like Erigeron karvinskianus, thyme, chamomile etc (I'm assuming the gravel area gets a fair amount of sun) then push the gravel back around them? If there's a membrane underneath, you can cut crosses in it and fold back the corners to make spaces to plant through it.  Things might establish from seed in the gravel or they might not, and sods law says the ones that come up will be just where you need to walk.

    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • raisingirlraisingirl Posts: 7,093
    edited May 2022
    Thyme may take but as Jenny says, you'd need to get its feet into soil under the gravel or through a membrane if there is one and you're more likely to succeed putting in a plant rather than throwing seeds down. Plenty of other small plants are happy with very dry conditions soo can be planted through a membrane or under gravel - most of the alpines or things like house leek, small sedums and the like. They won't all tolerate being stepped on (thyme will) but if you can make a path using the slabs and plant the more sensitive ones where you don't need to walk, you can probably cover most of it.

    Google roof garden plants - they'll generally all take those conditions - this sort of thing might give you some ideas

    Image result for gravel roof plants
    Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon

    “It's still magic even if you know how it's done.” 
  • SuesynSuesyn Posts: 664
    We have quite a few gravel areas and although  I have never planted them there is erigeron, valerian, chives, verbena b. and primroses all growing strongly. I occasionally chop their heads of with a hoe to keep them under control but I'm not a tidy gardener so mostly leave them be. As these were all "free" plants I don't worry if I walk on them.

  • lesleywmU65roHlesleywmU65roH Posts: 10
    Brill..thanks so much; I can already see that what might work a treat is to plant around the edges..I love sedums, for instance..so that I can step over them to a reduced gravel area for hanging washing.  That's cheered me up no end..I'm out of space in the borders, so now I've got a new project to tinker with.  Really glad I thought of contacting this forum.  Cheers, Lesley
  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    Hello @lesleywmU65roH and welcome to the forum.
    Will you show us some pics when you've created your magic so we can enjoy them too please?
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • lesleywmU65roHlesleywmU65roH Posts: 10
    Greetings Uff, and thanks..I will do my best, but my tech skills are pathetic, quite honestly.  However I do have an IT consultant who will sort it (a.k.a. the husband!)..I know, I know, but some of us can cook and sew and knit and garden, and some of us do intrawebby stuff, each to their own..

  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    You'll manage it, just look at lots of design garden projects on that interwebby thing. Think big terracotta pots, rusty pots, ceramic pots and then visit a garden centre and buy some big, blowsy, colourful plants, annuals to start with as they are cheaper to experiment with and then when you have more confidence next year you can shove the boat out and really come into your own. Best of luck.
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • lesleywmU65roHlesleywmU65roH Posts: 10
    Thank 'ee kindly Uff. I'm also now going to have a browse around this forum to see what's occuring...

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