Preparing a pebble/slate covered area

I want to convert a poor lawn into a pebble/slate covered area on which my wife would place potted shrubs etc.
I assume I have to kill whats left of the grass
and initially cover the area with nylon mesh?
Any information would be appreciated
Regards,
Cliff

 

Hello Cliff we had our front garden landscaped with crushed plum slate and pebbles in March our landscaper had a machine that dug up the lawn then he lay thick black membrane down .

He did not spray as new plants were then planted and it is stunning.

Give me time to locate our photos and I shall post for you to see.

 

Shot with Canon PowerShot A540 at 2007-08-21

Before once grass was lifted.

 

Shot with Canon PowerShot A540 at 2007-08-21

 

Shot with Canon PowerShot A540 at 2007-08-21

Shall take another photo tomorrow to let you see alpines are now in bloom.

 

On the membrane - don't be tempted to get the cheap stuff as it's a false economy - it's not that expensive for the stronger membrane and that works much better.

 

OB yes it was the stronger membrane and not the cheap stuff.

 

I agree with Scotkat Cliff don't use weed killer as it will pollute your soil and maybe even harm the plants in your pots.
Couldn't you cover the area with black bags or old carpet or something to kill off the grass naturally?
It will take time of course to die but it would save all the hard work of removing the grass top.
Helen.xxx.

 

You could kill of the grass by cutting it really short, then laying newspaper out over it, and lay your grass cuttings back over the top. Its a good way to kill weeds in a flower bed so i guess it will kill your lawn too.

 

Sorry to disagree about the weedkiller. Since the area I wanted to use to bulid a pebbled area, was covered in bindweed and couch and ground elder I sprayed with Roundup, for about 6 months before putting down the pebbles. We did not use a membrane as I wanted to plant Semps directly into the soil between the pebbles. We have had no problems with either soil contamination, nor with weed regrowth. We still get some annual weeds from blown seeds, but you get them on top of the membrane as well. In fact it does better than the path where we did use a membrane for lack of weeds.

 

I am not sure about the need for an expensive membrane. You have to keep in mind what the membrane does and does not do. It doesn't stop weeds growing through. Weeds can grow through tarmac and even break through concrete, so a membrane is no barrier. You stop the weeds by excluding the light, so you must put a decent thickness of gravel or slate on top. If you had a weed problem before, I would agree with Palustris about weed killer.

The purpose of the membrane is to stop the slate sinking into the mud when it rains, especially when you walk on it. But people walking on two inches of slate over a cheapish membrane, won't burst it. However if you want to park your car on it, you will need either a thicker layer of slate or a stronger membrane. There is a trade off between the two.