STONED

A pox on the person who dumped all the stones in West Sussex into our front garden! 

Bucket after bucket of rocks, stones and pebbles have been sieved out of the dirt which we’ve used to form a drainage layer almost a foot deep in the bottom of the raised flower bed.  Only Brighton beach has got more stones than we have.  The more you pick, the more you find.   Aahhh!

 

Is there an end to the stones?

Having filled our ‘sarcophagus’ full of stones and displaced earth, the other half has excavated an area below the level of the existing driveway to hold our gravel filled Aco ground grids.  When buying these grids make sure you check that it will take the weight of vehicles as not all grids are created equal.

Topping up the stone layer with the displaced earth

 

Dug out and levelled ready for weed membrane

I’ve acquired a nice roll of thick weed control membrane (Ebay) to lay down before we top this with sand on which to lay our grids on.  The weed control fabric should prevent unwanted plants rising through the gravel but will still allow water to drain into the soil.

 

Get a good thick membrane that allows moisture to soak through

Secure membrane in place with landscaping staples/nails

Drainage is one of the main issues to be aware of if building or re-vamping a driveway.  Our local authority planning dept couldn’t stress it enough in their letter to me – no surface water can be allowed to drain onto the public footpath or highway.  Or else! 

Gravel filled grids will enable us to achieve compliance with this requirement and I’m sure will be more economical than trying to block pave the area to match the existing drive.  The grids will also help keep the gravel under control.  There’s nothing more annoying than gravelly drives that spill their contents out onto a footpath.  How messy!

 

Nothing worse than messy gravel

ACO Ground Grid robust enough for cars

Meanwhile, a lovely flower bed has emerged from the ruins of our old cracked wall adding a splash of interest and some bee fodder to the front garden.

The finished raised flower bed