Hi, I have a question. Does anyone know how gravel surfaces were constructed in the past? I hardly think that they excavated 30 cm then laid base course and then gravel.
We are planning to construct a gravel surface and want to keep it as simple as possible. We don't have heavy machinery, only cars driving in and out occasionally. Doing it the proper way with excavation, etc., would cost about 50k with "friend prices."
My father-in-law says that in the past, they just laid the gravel directly on the lawn and that's how he did it. Of course, where there's no movement, grass will likely come through, so you'll have to top up with gravel.
Lay landscape fabric on gravel of desired type, with the fabric you will at least avoid some weeds for the first period.
No matter how you do it, there will be weeds in the gravel if you don't rake the surface quite often.
Cheaper than that is probably hard to achieve.
The question is how much you benefit from using the nuisance of putting down fabric ... I just laid diabase gravel directly on it. Now, admittedly, they had used the future carport entrance for heavy machinery during construction, so it was well compacted. A bit of root weed the first few years but it eventually disappeared. I believe that diabase gravel is so heavy that it doesn't promote growth.
The question is how much you gain by laying the annoyance of fabric... I just placed diabase gravel directly. Now, admittedly, the future carport entrance had been used for heavy machinery during the construction, so it was well compacted. Some root weeds the first few years but they disappeared eventually. I think diabase gravel is so heavy that it doesn't promote growth.
It completely depends on the substrate. If there's a lot of fine material/clay, it can easily get clogged if you don't have fabric. With sandy moraine, sand, gravel it works well without fabric.
I have heard both pros and cons about the ground cover. One risk is that if you want to rake the gravel with a heavier gravel rake, it might dig down to the mat and tear it up and cause it to bunch up.
How much gravel would you put on top in that case? Diabas gravel, what type is it? 0-?
I interpret this as you want a regular gravel driveway like the one in front of a house, perhaps with a roundabout in the middle if it's a bit extra?
We have such a gravel driveway. Here is a picture of its construction from when I dug in some irrigation.
I couldn't go deeper due to a ground cloth. On that, there is 10-15cm of material in the form of what's in the sack. On that, a few centimeters of macadam, what can it be, 4-11 or something?
The day I can justify it financially, I will replace it all with proper courtyard gravel.
On this surface, mostly cars drive, but occasionally a tractor or something similar.
I definitely wouldn't lay ground cloth directly under the gravel. We regularly run a courtyard harrow behind the lawnmower during the summer months to keep weeds away. Plus, it looks nice when it's freshly raked.
Replace? You can seal the existing surface with some stone dust and lay pea gravel on top.
Feels like it will get torn up when we harrow and then we’ll have a mix.
I'm thinking more like using it when we need crushed rock for "something else". Either improve a forest road or something similar. Then I'll scrape everything together somehow, load it up, and use it for "the other thing", then I'll buy a few loads of fine gravel and lay it out.
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yonna said:
