In my previous garden, which was in Texas, I had a DG pathway in my backyard. We had cleared the entire yard of grass, it was all garden, pathway, pool, and hardscape. At first we did have issue with tracking it into the house, even though we had to cross a sizable concrete patio before getting into the house, but we ended up placing a few strategically placed flagstone pavers within the path... it was pretty rough flagstone... we used it to sort of wipe our feet on as we left the path. That solved the problem very well for us, and still kept our path looking very naturalistic.

Thank you both! Great suggestions.

Skmom, do you happen to have photos? I was thinking of stepping stones (eg flagstone) in the gravel. That could be an option.

What size stone/pebbles work?

Any other ideas?

I’m also deciding what trees to include. If anyone can comment?! In pots or ground but need to stay relatively small (10ft).

Thank you!!

Keep in mind that small rocks will also wash away in heavy rains. Flagstone stepping stones would be great. Maybe between them you can plant spreading flat plantings such as moss, or even better because of your Mediterranean theme, a flat oregano. You can also try mulch, though it will travel too in the rain.

“Keep in mind that small rocks will also wash away in heavy rains.”

IME whether it gets moved by heavy rain depends on soil drainage, the material used, the edging used, and the contour of the area and how water moves across it. Our farm is quite flat in most areas with well-draining soil. We have something in the range of 3000 feet of drives topped with what is referred to in this area as knitpack, a crushed granite product that includes pieces ranging from from a bit over an inch down to stone dust and everything in between. It knits together well, and the only place water has moved it has been on the one spot where the drive is steeply sloped, even during some really intense storms that dropped more than an inch in less than an hour. The drives aren’t edged. It does stick to damp shoes, however, so we drop shoes next to the door as we enter, the walk up to the house is masonry rather than knitpack, and we have rugs for wiping feet both inside and out. Some still makes it into the house, but we haven’t had to refinish the southern yellow pine floors that start about 6 feet from the main door after about 20 years. Knitpack is not a barefoot walking surface unless your feet are far more resilient than mine.

BTW, your inspiration photos are beautiful. If you have sloped areas, notice how the first photo has large cobbles or rocks where the path leading off to right slopes.

Thanks baileysr! I like the idea of flagstone with ground cover. I’ve been looking at thyme and moss. We sadly don’t get much rain at all here in Southern California, so I don’t have to worry about washout.

And thanks NHBabs! I love the idea of knitpack and will look into it! I am concerned about tracking it in though. But I think I would love the look. And we don’t have much slope in our front yard but want to create something like a dry river bed so maybe those bigger cobbles could work, as you point out (hadn’t noticed.. thx!)

What about a combo of DG (or knit pack) with flagstone? See photo. It could give me the look of DG but less tracking in with the stepping stones. ?

Any other thoughts on gravel/pebbles? Also an option is gravel with stepping stones..? Other photo.

Thank you!! This is so helpful!

I was looking... I can’t find a photo of any part of that pathway after we placed some flagstone... but I did find one photo of a portion of the pathway before we placed some flagstone in the pathway. This view is from a flagstone patio kind of behind our pool and hot tub. The path wound around behind the pool, which had a built up rock waterfall area with a berm behind it, this was the beginning of that pathway starting right behind the hot tub. What we SHOULD have done after we installed the decomposed granite was to rent one of those things that makes it more compact... but we didn’t do that, so it was more loose than it should’ve been... live and learn, it was our first large landscaping effort... it still turned out gloriously beautiful and effective. LOL! When we installed a large piece of flagstone right at the beginning of that pathway (and around at the opposite end of it, which is not shown in this photo) we just kind of dug out the dg and shaped it with our hands so match the uneven surface of the flagstone we had (it was thick, heavy stuff) and kept working at it until it set evenly without rocking at all. It that climate we were not concerned with the ground freezing and stuff heaving.

PS. I think the term Knitpack is a regional term, and I don’t know what it would be called in other parts of the county. So you may need to use description to source it if you want to use it.

I have it in my yard and it looked great in the beginning. Now it has moss on it. I am in dry California but the sprinklers on the north side make it wet enough for moss to grow.

Eleanor, is that DG? Thanks for your comment! That’s good to know, although we won’t have spray sprinklers..just drip. Thx!

Yes. My path with the moss is DG. Not sure what to do.

Eleanor, try adjusting the sprinkler heads so the path isn’t so wet.