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Gravel based garden tips
hi2u_uk
Posts: 58
I want to make a gravel based garden ie with gravel and plants in pots in the gravel. Does anyone have any tips for selection of the gravel ? or any tips on gravel based gardens in general 
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And transformed into this
I used 11 tonnes of 20mm gravel.
I changed my garden a couple of years ago from the area of grass [that I also put in 7 or 8 years ago] back to gravel, with a bigger pond, and planting around it. The only problem is the type of subsoil I have - compacted sticky clay, with hardcore on top, because the garden was originally slabs and gravel when I moved in ten years ago.
If it's prepping the soil that's making you want to have pots, I can understand that, but it just takes a bit of initial effort
This was taken a few days ago. Most of my photos are on the old laptop and I haven't got them transferred yet, but most of that gravelled area was lawn, ,with gravel paths around it. The bit to the right of the pic is more or less the same as I had it, apart from being all plants instead of the original pond and some surrounding planting.
This is part of it, taken about 3 or 4 weeks ago
I think I had 2 new bulk bags of gravel [20mm golden gravel - Solent Gold I think] to do the new area, as there was already the surrounding paths in place, but I also topped up a few bits of those parts. The newest section is about 20 sq metres, and the whole area is probably around 80.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
However, it's a pain to remove a large area of gravel, cut liner, fold it back and then start digging out soil for planting in.
Most online gravel calculators are about right, maybe a little over estimated. Bulk bags are something like 850 kg. Most online gravel sellers don't want to deliver with a HIAB craned truck, so look for a more local aggregates yard or such. Most of the gravel will come from LongRakeSpar or one of the few other quarrying companies anyway.
Try and buy the entire lot in one go. I only say this as if you come back for more later, it could be a little different in colour. Weathering helps to blend, but it can be annoying.
Costwold white chippings have a tendency to go green. Black granite really is black and is contrasty when wet but looks grey when dry. Red granite can be quite pleasant in the Winter when it's dreary and grey skied.
You can go for the same colour in 14 mm in the regular carry bags for putting on top of pots if you want to keep things very uniform and carry a colour. Works as a mulch to keep the soil moist, but again is a pain when having to repot.