Gravelling Flower Bed

[milly143]

I want to gravel a large area of beddding in my garden with white stones. At present it is just soil and lots of weeds. Aside from pulling up the weeds, do I need to do anything before I lay the gravel?

[beejay1124]

You may want to lower the bed-if not then pull out or cut down any tall weeds-lay 'weed blocking fabric' (this can be got from garden shops & is fairly cheap -measure the area you will need)This needn't be put down neatly like a carpet,just make sure it isn't too slack and any cuts needed to suit corners etc.to be done so that fabric overlaps-so no weeds ever appear.the white stones (pebbles)are now put down on the fabric.Hope i've explained O.K.

[milly143]

Yeah that's great, I didn't know about the fabric and was wondering how to stop the weeds coming through. Sounds fairly easy. Thanks for your help!

[Jugglering]

Just a little word of caution about small pebbles - the local kitties might think it's their brand new litter tray ! My neighbour had this problem in her garden so she replaced the small smooth pebbles with larger, more angular slate chips (in a lovely purple colour that looks fantastic after rain).

[Clanad]

If I may... the advice you've been given is good and certainly adequate. I would, however, point out a couple of things. Although pulling the weeds and using the weed block willhelp, I'd spray the area with a quick acting weed killer such as Roundup. It doesn't stay in the soil and is reasonably environmentally friendly. Second, kind of in line with what Juggerling is saying... the rocks, pebbles, etc., are going to be almost forever. They would be very difficult to remove if you ever want to. As well, dust, dirt and leaf debris will blow in and in a year or two you will have weeds anyway. I'd recommend that you at least look at some of the wood chip, wood bark, products. Here, in the U.S., they come in many colors, only weigh about 20 pounds per bag (2 cubic feet) are easily removed and cats don't usually see them as their private public convenience... At any rate, best of luck!

[Robinia]

Sorry to disagree Clanad but I have bark, wood chippings & gravelled areas in my garden & it's the bark that the cats use...I regularly find neat little 'hills' hiding their offerings!
Maybe cats are tougher in the states!
The foxes love to play in & scatter the larger wood chips but the gravel is pretty problem free, apart from an occasional weed which pulls out really easily.

[smudge]

Like us, our daughter has gravelled parts in her garden & the local cats seem to use her one as a toilet.

We on the other hand, haven't had the same problem - yet, but we do have owners letting their dogs pee up our brick piers & on the odd occasion have to clear up their poo!

[gucciman]

ive got white chippings in my garden and they go green and dirty, i have to scrape a layer of and buy fresh ones every yr, is a right pain, id go for plum coloured slate chippings if i was you.