Yes: skip the fabric. Note also that due to the smallness and roundness of the particles pea gravel migrates if not well hemmed in by an adequately tall edging.

I’ve used layers of (soaked) newspapers to block weeds, which I find easier in the long run. I’ve used landscape fabric and I’ve used carpet. They hold back the weeds growing up from below it, but not of any weeds that develop on top which are not attended to. Once roots take hold on them it is a nightmare to get the fabric/carpet up.

I put landscape fabric across a utility area that I then covered in loose gravel. It doesn't seem to have prevented weed growth at all. Enough dust and debris ends up on the gravel and the weeds just root and then go right through it. Not doing it again. If you put down gravel with fines and compact it, that will go a ways to keeping weed growth slow. But you'll still get weeds. Pea gravel doesn't compact due to rounded edges and no fines. Nice plan for garden, though!

Weeds will grow thru anything eventually. Think of cracks in concrete...enough soil for weeds to grow.

I would never put pea gravel in. As the other layers break down, eventually pea gravel will be in your soil and have fun digging thru that.

Not a good idea to put drain gravel under your plants. The water will move better without it. It might be a good idea to mix the cactus mix into the clay further out from the plant. Your diagram looks like a pot within the clay soil, which can result in the plants becoming rootbound. Succulents in containers are removed every few years for repotting into a larger pot, or for root trimming. If you want your plants to grow naturally, don't create a pot within the soil.

Yes, you run a huge risk of root rots if amending a clay planting hole. The clay acts just like a bucket and retains water around the root system. For plants that require excellent and very fast drainage, you need to amend over the widest area as possible. Or plant in small raised mounds.

I would also restrict the smaller sized grave to any walkways - think decomposed granite - and use larger sized river rocks as a mulch material in the beds. Less migration into other areas and less chance of it becoming incorporated into the garden soil.

Mineral material adequate to significantly change the texture of the finished combination will have to make up more than half the final volume. If there is not enough sand already present for the added amount to then be comparatively small the amending will result in the finished grade puffing up markedly as a result of the blending. So that it would be preferable to dig out and replace entirely the existing soil if it really does not seem suitable for what you want to grow. With as always the simplest approach being instead the choosing and planting of kinds that will perform in the existing soil, with loosening the soil near each at planting (and mulching afterward) being enough to get them started.

Landscape fabric is evil. So is pea gravel.

But then, I live in a place with moderately ok soil. YMMV.

We moved into a house with a desert garden, which had much sandy "soil." We don't get extreme weeds there.

"Landscape fabric is evil. So is pea gravel."

I'd say it's chaotic neutral. It just does what it wants, when it wants. :-)

Except where I wanted dead, anaerobic soil, I didn't use it. And that was under the landscape rocks beneath the downspouts from the roof, where the stuff could actually help prevent erosion of the soil. There it actually had a purpose, and, when constrained carefully, its potential evil (or chaos) was mitigated quite nicely.

Thanks everyone for the helpful input!

I was leaning to not using the fabric, now I feel more confident in my decision.

Yes, I think for the gravel pathway surface between the pavers and the planter boxes, where it will see more foot traffic, I'm looking for a very hard, compacted surface made up smooth pea gravel mixed with some fines and compacted into either drain gravel or base rock. Our local nursery has this surface, and it looks like pea gravel, maybe mixed with blue fines, compacted into road base. Towards the dry garden, I agree with either bigger gravel but I definitely thought it'd be looser.

I have been thinking about what gravel material layers to use for back garden and now the front pathway for about a year! Pro landscapers tell me Decomposed Granite is what I want, but it will carry into house and scuff up floors, and does not drain well, etc. So thats why I'm thinking blue pea gravel as its aligned to our aesthetic wont track in as easily and scuff.

I also want a hard surface that drains well and does not pool water, hence me wanting to use drain rock under pea gravel. it feels like DG would stick to your shoes when wet and track and pea gravel wont as its not sandy like that DG.

I think Ill do a square foot test - gravel into base rock, or gravel and fines into drain gravel.

As for the raw clay soil prep for plants, yes I totally agree with needing a wider hole and or mound, especially in hard clay. The way I usually plant in ground into our hard clay, is dig a hole 3 times bigger than potted plant, then fill the whole 1/3 with 50/50 mix of clay soil and cactus/succulent mix form Hardware Store ( amended mix) . then fill the rest with 100% cactus/succulent mix, mulch on top and superficial pea gravel for cover.

Some quick screengrab examples and my updated layers plan

Project Update - OUR FINAL GRAVEL CHOICE

Just in case anyone else is pondering pea gravel for front yard.

After extensive sample tests for both aesthetics and function, the gravel material we chose is 3/8 crushed California Gold gravel, instead of the blue 3/8 pea gravel we we thinking of initially.

The 3/8 crushed gold rock worked very well for this application because it checked all the boxes we wanted, except the "pet and foot friendly non sharp material" which is a moot point in the front yard. It looks beautiful as it washes to a light tan color with slight pink hues. Its basically crushed gold ore - as the bits are full of quartz, with silver and gold traces - works great with cactus gardens and looks a lot like the natural granite gravel in Joshua Tree. Structure wise its a fantastic drainer and compacts beautifully to a hard walkable surface, it also blends in very nicely with GOLD FINES, which I used 1/2 mix in parts around pavers and boxes for a solid compacted surface - for easy walking and blower cleaning. And its light in tone so it wont fry the plants like pea gravel or basalt would probably.

Working with the 3/8 crushed rock, I definitely think pea gravel would have been a bad choice for this - fits all application - as it would not have compacted well where it needs to be, less easy to clean and walk on, and would have been too much blue with our blue house.

Thanks for the update. Looks good.

tj

Wow, it looks beautiful!

Looks great!

Very nice! And, thank you for returning for an update. It's so nice to see the finished project.

Kate

Nice choices!