Gardening with gravel
Gardening with gravel is ideal for creating an attractive, low maintenance and water-wise outdoor area, especially if a lawn isn’t viable.
Gravel gardens are a great alternative to grass and a hard-wearing ground cover perfect for high-traffic areas. It can be used in areas where grass or other plants won’t grow, like under trees and other outdoor sitting areas. The specific colour and size of the gravel you choose can significantly enhance your garden’s aesthetic.
The benefits of gardening with gravel
- Gravel is a natural product.
- Using gravel reduces water evaporation.
- Gravel can alert you to anyone approaching, thanks to the underfoot crunching.
- Gravel gardens minimise soil erosion.
- With gravel, weeds in your garden are suppressed.
- However, gravel allows water to penetrate the soil, making it more eco-friendly than paving.
With such incredible benefits, it’s clear that gardening with gravel is perfect for a water scarce country like South Africa.
Laying the gravel
When gardening with gravel or even just laying a pathway, the first and crucial step is to level and compact the area.
Next, create borders or plant beds to minimise soil landing on top of your gravel. Soil can promote weed growth. Once you’ve spread the gravel and need to replace plants, cover the gravel with plastic before any soil-moving activity. An edging is also essential to keep the gravel from moving onto grassy areas since they can damage your lawnmower.
Then, place down weed guard on the area to be covered in decorative gravel to deter weed growth further.
Finally, spread an 3 cm gravel layer directly on top of the weed guard. Click here for information on how to calculate how much gravel you will need.
Choosing the right gravel
Gravel comes in various sizes and colours. Some considerations to keep in mind are:
- Finer gravel is more comfortable to walk on.
- Choose a colour that compliments the colour of your home.
Gravel garden styles
Gravel can be used to recreate various specific garden styles.
For example, a French-inspired garden uses gravel under pergolas for patios and pathways. Plants that complement this romantic gravel garden style include lavender and rosemary.
To recreate an authentic English garden, establish wide borders with plants like catmint, irises, and lavender spilling over gravel paths.
However, a truly South African garden would feature lots of succulents like aloe and vygies as a low-maintenance, water-wise option.
Reveal your gravel garden’s natural beauty
Discover the effortless beauty of gardening with gravel. Get in touch with Pebbles for Africa, the leading gravel and pebble supplier in Gauteng today, to find out more about their various sized and coloured decorative gravel.
