Blinding

We are creating our veg garden and it has 5 raised beds around which we have three foot paths.

We have a bit of a vertical challange from the access so have a 20ft ramp coming next week.

We intend making the paths which are presently earth as follows.

Several layers of plastic bags/dumpy bags/ garden fabric/ not all in the one place but we have some rubbish to get rid or, and a 4" layer of 2" blinding. Now our question is if you have been this route, so no guessing please, would you use a compactor tool in hind sight?

Many thanks

PH

 

Sorry Poly Hive but I wouldn't think of burying anything non-perishable in a garden! Why do you want to do this when you already have soil paths? Pictures would help if possible please.

 

Because using this material to make the paths is advantageous. The paths as they are are messy, dirty and difficult to use in wet weather. The dumpy bags in particular will help with the wettest areas.

I didn't post for criticism I asked for information.

Anyone have this info please?

PH

 

Well we thought of that but at £7 a bag we would need about 100 bags and the blinding is a third that price. Plus we have been told that the chippings need topping up every year and we are after a once only deal.

PH

 

I had my lawn taken up and replaced with mixture of gravel and slabs last autumn. This was done for me by garden landscapers but I can tell you that the sequence was:

Dig out turf, and down to an appropriate level

Instal edging (old London stock bricks)

Add layer of hardcore, level manually with a whacker.

Lay membrane to prevent weeds growing through

Instal slabs and gravel

It was hard work I could see but if as you say you want a one-off solution I think this is the kind of procedure to follow. The result is level, stable and drains well. The gravel (Staffordshire Pink) was ordered online in a bulk bag and was cheap as chips. A self-binding gravel would probably work better if you need to move wheel-barrows etc about on the paths.

My concern if you use an assortment of bags, membranes etc underneath to fill in would be that eventually they become unstable and everything starts to move about. I walked some paths in the Yorkshire Dales over the winter where just such a solution had been adopted and I can tell you that it was a disaster! Exposed and rucked up membrane all over the place, a real tripping hazard.

 

I've worked on quite a few projects where geotextile membranes have beem used, both for weed suppression and also to prevent migration of material into the subsoil, but do not recognise your use of the term 'blinding' in this context. Blinding is the term normally used to describe a fine layer of granular material covering the likes of a hardcore bed either to protect a layer of rpm laid on it, or restrict ingress of concrete laid over it.

What exactly is the material you intend to use?

If that's non-porous plastic, it could cause ponding/saturation which could cause the 'blinding' to heave up in freezing conditions.

EDIT: Compaction together with laying to falls/camber will assist in shedding rainwater. If the path runs down a slope, design it to shed water at intermediate locations, rather than have heavy rain run the length of it scouring material away.

 

Ok so now we are on plan B. The plastic has been recycled and porous weed suppressant material bought. Now begun to barrow in as we have had a metal ramp made for us which is 20ft by 3. Only 14 tons of blinding to shift.