I don’t like gravel. That’s it.
- noisy
- scatters all over the neighborhood.
- hard to walk on
- dogs and cats crap in it
- kids chuck it around and put it in their mouth.
- doesn’t even look good.
- difficult and heavy to remove once you have come to terms will all of the above.
Gravel advocates… explain your case for gravelling your garden/drive.
Gravel sceptics, feel free to share your distaste.
- solarvector ( @solarvector@lemmy.zip ) English20•7 months ago
- It can be cheaply re-graded
- Helps control erosion while allowing water penetration
- Isn’t mud
- Less dusty than dirt when dry
- Doesn’t have oil and tar runoff
- Better traction in snow and ice
- Is the basis for concrete and asphalt
- florge ( @florge@feddit.uk ) English15•7 months ago
- Sounds nice when you drive over it
- Hobbit deterrent
- Makes it easy to perform power slides when you’re bored on the long drive up to the manor
- fakeman_pretendname ( @fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk ) English14•7 months ago
I don’t have gravel, but I’m considering using some round the back of the house in a few places, whenever we get round to doing up the “garden”.
- Opportunist/casual burglars and thieves tend not to cross it because it’s noisy, “Crunch, crunch, let’s rob next door instead”.
- If you have weed-proof membrane under it, it’s low maintenance.
- You can plant things deliberately through it, which get water and grow happily, whilst being defended from weeds.
- As long as you have a way of transporting the bags, it’s petty easy to install by an amateur.
- Allows soak-away of rain/flood water.
- Durable and cheap to repair - no cracking from tree roots/weather, repair by pouring more stones in.
- Doesn’t become slippy/slimey/muddy with rain or flood.
- Turns wheelie-bin day into an exciting all-terrain rally adventure :)
All the things you say are totally true though, it’s just sometimes a case of weighing things up in your specific circumstances.
- wewbull ( @wewbull@feddit.uk ) English12•7 months ago
Lawn mowers also pick up stray stones and fling them in random directions at great velocity.
- Echo Dot ( @echodot@feddit.uk ) English15•7 months ago
That’s the worst part about mowing my gravel path. But if I don’t cut it the stones get too long.
- wewbull ( @wewbull@feddit.uk ) English7•7 months ago
Stray stones.
You get hidden ones in the lawn that have escaped the path.
- Echo Dot ( @echodot@feddit.uk ) English4•7 months ago
So all you have to do is get your family, stand in a straight line, and walk up and down over the lawn picking up any stones that you find. Like they do on aircraft carriers.
Fun for all the family, of course the neighbors think you’re a little weird.
- corsicanguppy ( @corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca ) English3•7 months ago
all you have to do
This was the funniest part.
Hey, I come from an army family: it put food on our table and gave one of us a degree, finally. But even back then, with an autocratic family life, there was still NO F’N WAY dad was gonna succeed in lining up the family to walk in a manageable line across the lawn and pick stones. Maybe we’d line up, but the work wouldn’t be that good because #teenager
- VieuxQueb ( @VieuxQueb@lemmy.ca ) English2•7 months ago
Yes, my neighbor installed a cute post fence so the previous tenant would not drive his truck over his lawn. The fence has a gravel base. I get rocks on my lawn across a two car wide driveway. They sometimes manage to fling from under my lawnmower at crazy speed aiming at cars and people randomly. It happens so rarely you get to let your guard go and then BAM.
- survivalmachine ( @survivalmachine@beehaw.org ) English9•7 months ago
Because this cost under $3000 USD in materials and I just have to get the gravel delivered and I can spread it myself with my own equipment. A concrete or asphalt road would require hiring a crew and I’d expect to have to spend closer to $20-30k+ for materials and labor.
I was thinking, “holy moly, tarmac is expensive in the states”, then I saw the size of the drive!
- apis ( @apis@beehaw.org ) English8•7 months ago
Useful for drainage channels & such.
As a garden surface, it makes me angry. So ugly, so annoying, so depressing.
I think we are alone with this opinion. Seems lots of people like it.
- fakeman_pretendname ( @fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk ) English1•7 months ago
“Like” is a strong word. I understand the use for it, and will be using some of it in a few particular locations, but I don’t really like it like it.
- solarvector ( @solarvector@lemmy.zip ) English1•7 months ago
As a garden surface?!?
- apis ( @apis@beehaw.org ) English2•7 months ago
Uh, not sure how else to describe when it is laid down in a garden (other than for drainage or whatever).
Expanse of gravel? Visible gravel?
- Hossenfeffer ( @Hossenfeffer@feddit.uk ) English7•7 months ago
“Gravel driveway and path; gravel driveways and paths make it harder for burglars to go undetected.” according to the Metropolitan Police.
- Flax ( @Flax_vert@feddit.uk ) English7•7 months ago
At least it isn’t astroturf
- SbisasCostlyTurnover ( @Oneeightnine@feddit.uk ) English5•7 months ago
It’s cheap.
Maybe that’s why it’s so prevalent.
- JimmyBigSausage ( @JimmyBigSausage@lemm.ee ) English4•7 months ago
It usually comes in decorative colors, helps prevent erosion, and can create a lower-maintenance surface.
It can consolidate a heterogenous surface into a finished, uniform appearance. It can be used in pet areas to reduce mud from your pets running around on bare dirt also reducing them bringing mud or dirt into the house. Gravel allows water to soak into plants, not just runnning off so landscape plants and trees live! - maniacalmanicmania ( @maniacalmanicmania@aussie.zone ) English3•7 months ago
Is gravel common in your part of the world? Like gravel pathways? That sucks. Why would anyone do that?