Anyone replaced their turf with stones?

AshleyC

AshleyC

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Ok I'm thinking of filling the front garden up with white pebbles rather than grass. Just wondering if white is the way to go, do they get dirty quickly and if so how to clean them? Is white more trouble than it's worth? I'll probably go to slate chippings if so but would prefer white.
 
AshleyC said:
Ok I'm thinking of filling the front garden up with white pebbles rather than grass. Just wondering if white is the way to go, do they get dirty quickly and if so how to clean them? Is white more trouble than it's worth? I'll probably go to slate chippings if so but would prefer white.
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I had a small patch of white "chippings" on a flower bed. They went dirty green within a season!

I'm not sure if pebbles would go the same way being smooth and all that. Maybe get a small bag, spread them out somewhere and leave them a few months?
If you aren't in a rush that is?
 
Beware of Magpies nicking them! We have a few pots dressed with white chippings (~5mm) and have had the B&W thieving bathtubs drop them on our conservatory roof. Slate chippings have stayed where we want them.
 
It might be an idea to look at your most locally produced stone and use that, ie in Gloucestershire (where I live) Cotswold stone chippings are often appropriate but in Norfolk you might use flint aggregate instead.
 
Cobra said:
I had a small patch of white "chippings" on a flower bed. They went dirty green within a season!

I'm not sure if pebbles would go the same way being smooth and all that. Maybe get a small bag, spread them out somewhere and leave them a few months?
If you aren't in a rush that is?
Click to expand...

Providing the soil beneath the stones does not have anything growing in it then cleaning is easily achieved with any cheap"thin" bleach from a supermarket (I mix in a little washing up liquid). Apply with a garden sprayer or watering can. Moss and algae is rapidly killed and stone is left looking clean.
 
arclight said:
Providing the soil beneath the stones does not have anything growing in it then cleaning is easily achieved with any cheap"thin" bleach from a supermarket
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Fair point :)
 
Whatever you decide to use first kill everything, sodium chlorate (if its still legal), then put down semi permeable membrane before you put your selected stone down.
Doing this will ensure that you do not get weeds growing through the stone, you will still get weeds but they will be from birds dropping seeds and will have no roots so are easy to pull out.
Just look at the number of houses that have put down block paving and have grass growing in between the blocks.
 
It might also be worth checking if you are allowed to do it. Local councils have got very strict on run-off water over filling their drainage system.
 
Sodium Chlorate hasnt been available for at least 6 years. Best you can hope for is Roundup Extra Tough or SBK.

White chippings go green by the end of the first winter - sooner if north facing. Small - less than 15mm chippings are a PITA, they stick in and on shoes and get transfered onto adjacent surfaces and indoors. 20mm + is much more user friendly. Either a coloured chipping, slate scree (not the fine stuff) pebbles (smooth rounded) or Gravel (angular shape) is best

The council can not stop you paving or graveling your front garden provided you do one of two things
You collect all runoff and direct it into a soakaway if using a non-permeable material - Tarmac, concrete, paved or block paving/sets.
If you use a permeable material like gravel that will by its nature minimise run off and allow the water to drain through arguably better than a grass surface
 
we used green granite chippings over weed barrier matting as our front garden is north facing and was more moss than grass. The rainwater just soaks through.
 
I've got a quite a large area of limestone (grey-white) chippings/gravel at the front where we park the cars and a number of gravel paths at the back, in the damp north-west. They have never gone green, always stay white/grey, may be it's the type of stone that makes the difference. They do get stuck in some shoe treads but most are OK. Most of the paths have had heavy duty weed control mat underneath and the weeds just grow into it in 5 to 10 years. That said the mat does stop the gravel getting pushed down into the sub-soil so it helps in that respect in heavily trafficked areas. You do need to pin the ends and joins of the mat down otherwise edges and corners seem to works their way up to the surface. It's a bit of a chore to clear the leaves off in autumn, you really need a garden vac.
 
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