"Rick" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 29 Mar 2005 13:12:15 -0000, "Mike Saunders"
wrote:

I woild like to know from anyone who has laid a gravel grive suitable
for light traffic. I already have a sound crushed limestone base. What
I need to know is

Advice on depth and type of material to use advantages/disavantages etc

Should I put some of that special fabric over the base to stop weeds
etc. Some are already growing in the base due to contamination Does
this affect the depth of the gravel? (Moves around more?)

Drainage. Mostly on a slight slope but there is one area that is lower
where puddles can form after heavy rain

Maintainance. Mud on tyres, fallen leaves etc. Does the gravel need
replenising every few years etc

Anything else I have missed

Many thanks in advance

Mike


We used "slate scalpings" 200 quid a lorry load from the quarry, it
packs down and binds together. Looked good for the first year or two,
now we have had so much "sheep/cow/tractor doo dah" on it, we can't
sweep it all off, and its back to being an uncleanable muddy mess. We
are currently looking at concrete.

Rick


I must say I had a few initial problems with my gravel but nothing to put me
off.
This business of gravel acting like a difficult to walk on shingle beach was
solved with
a bit of clay subsoil to act as a binder. I think the use of geotextiles
causes problems
since it removes contact of the gravel with the binding soil below, and the
sand layer
to protect the textile acts as a lubricant. If you go to National Trust
properties I think you'll
find they don't use geotextiles ( though they quite often use fine gravel
which is not so
good near a house as you traipse it in ).

The local cats went on a sh***ing spree when I first put gravel down, but
when I added the
binder they gave it a few half-hearted attempts and gave up,as they don't
like hard work.

I have a theory that slate scalpings may be too flat to allow dirt to
percolate away - and
I wonder what they're like to rake over if you want to refresh their look?
Having said that
I don't get much in the way of sheep/cow/tractor doo-dah on my drive!

I'm still glad I put down gravel, despite the steep learning curve. There
are plenty of
houses with smart brick drives around me, but in a way, they have a very
suburban
feel to them which I don't fancy ( add a perfect front lawn to get the full
surbuban feel ).
I get a nice bucolic feeling crunching down me mellow golden gravel drive,
with the
odd clump of fleabane or campanula growing at the side.

Andy.