Different options for path

17 years ago

Hi all,

I have 2 large raised permanent beds (4'x8' and 2' deep) on a part of my front yard next to the children's play area and my lawn. It's also very close to my front door so we're out there often, often with bare feet.

We have ooey gooey native adobe clay underneath and the path is currently mulched with "gorilla hair" (fine strands of redwood mulch) which we put in last winter before the beds were built as a temporary weed block.

But in the areas directly around the bed where water sometimes seeps out to the surrounding soil, the clay soil becomes a soggy mess. The redwood mulch is mixing with the clay soil. I need something that will raise up above the soggy mess, not mix with the clay, and keep our feet dry.

I'd like to find a mulch that will look nice, feel good on the feet, and especially won't mix into the gooey clay.

I was thinking of maybe a thick row of pea gravel, but that might not feel so nice on bare feet. Might also get really hot in the summer?

I was also thinking maybe that fine decomposed granite... I've seen them installed as driveways and they seem to stay completley dry but I know nothing about the material. And I don't know if this will solve the soggy sinking mess

I was also thinking of a coarse wood path bark, but I suspect that might be more "wobbly" under feet and might cause my little ones to stumble if they're chasing eachother around the garden. And unless it's really thick, it may still have the same problem of getting squishy around the beds. (I hate scraping clay soil off every shoe we own.)

Since this is part of my overall landscaping in my front yard (fenced in off the street) but still adding to my overall curb appeal, I prefer to use something that is more conventionally attractive instead of a more freestyle option.

Any other ideas I might be missing? Any recommendations on best sizes for either pea gravel or the path bark?

Also, should I put weedcloth down first?

Thanks,

KMama

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Comments (6)

justaguy2
17 years ago
Kristi, I had the same problem and solved it with grass. Grass holds the soil together and sucks up the water so the clay doesn't stay mucky so long.

The only disadvantage to grass is it has to be mowed.
little_dani
17 years ago
I would suggest grass as well. You can probably cover all your pathways with less than 1/2 a pallet of sod (get it at a grass farm, not from Lowes or WM), and that is VERY inexpensive, compared with anything else.

Definitely not gravel, nor really any of the other things you mentioned. They would all sink into the soil and be lost, and you would just have to replace them. Even with plastic underneath, they would disappear. Don't know where it all goes, but it does.

Janie
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jane4667
17 years ago
What about stepping stones, thats what I use for my garden.
dicot
17 years ago
When I had the same problem in Marin and tried a thick layer of coarse wood bark, it became a peat bog in a little over a year. But that area had very poor drainage, which would make a big difference.

I finally scaped out the walkway when dry, ran landscape timbers along the sides and weed cloth on the bottom, then a 4" thick layer of pea gravel with stepping stoves set into the gravel. That was just just okay - I still had no drainage, but it cut down on the mess tracked inside.
kristimama
Original Author
17 years ago
Wow, these are great ideas. Thanks folks. I didn't think about stepping stones. My local stone and rock place sells them in 2' square pieces that could certainly cover what i need. And I could probably fill in the areas areas with a little gravel or mulch or even little plantings but the overall effect would be to raise me up.

Have a nice weekend, everyone!
-k
novice_2009
17 years ago
I have clay soil, here in TN. For my garden, no raised beds, but I'm following advice from a book I read, Companion Gardening. It suggests pathways of old barn wood, with shredded paper underneath. Very economical, finding old barn wood, no problem. When I walk through the garden, it won't compact the wet/clay soil, and any kind of mulch underneath keeps weeds down. Not gonna walk on it barefoot....... but. It's an idea and will give me a path and separate some plantings. Best of luck to you!