I've added this to GoYpedia Gravel Garden Ideas :o)

I enjoy my gravel gardens. I find they work well ... in shady areas and in sunshine...

W'lass ... we had gravel laid in our South facing front garden ... so much better than the 2 small squares of grass I had to mow & edge! Have planted a Eucalyptus, Lavender, 2 grasses, a Rosemary and placed some small rocks in there. I will never regret losing the grass ... lol!

I'm the same as Shirley W'lass, took up two small south facing lawns in the front garden that were always brown in summer and put down gravel. It's so much easier and I think it looks nicer. I have more plants growing in the gravel than I had in the original borders and watering has been cut down to a minimum in high summer. Beth Chattos 'Gravel garden' is a really good book to read, It gave me lots of ideas :o)))

W'lass I also have gravel in my shady seating area by the garage, maintanence free so more time to tend the flowers there.

Another thought for you to ponder ... you could place some stepping stones/slabs to create a path/paths through the gravel. Not always good underfoot to crunch on gravel ... lol! My, you've got to put your thinking caps on now. : o ))

I'm thinking about doing that on the side that leads to the side garden gate Shirley. I thought it looked good on Bluespruces pics through bark mulch, added another feature.

possible cons to consider - cats like using pea shingle, they think its cat litter, so a larger grade can prevent that; don't use gravel where there's lots of trees nearby - nothing worse than trying to get wet leaves off gravel in autumn, unless you've a leaf blower. Otherwise a good idea - membrane underneath, gravel on top, make cuts in the membrane to plant, keeps moisture in, weeds out. Looks great with paving slabs set in occasionally, as Shirley mentions, for walking on - but if you want to do that, choose complementary colouring for both the stones and the slabs.

As Bamboo has commented I have no cat probs now with larger grade gravel. It was a favorite spot for them all before the gravel was laid.

Yes, thanks for all your suggestions and cautionary notes too. I had remembered others speaking about avoiding small gravel (due to cats) and also plan paths as you suggest, Shirley.

I've been looking at Bulbaholics gravel/rockery and he has some beautiful plantings. I'll look out for the book by Beth Chatos on gravel gardens too..thanks Ann. (In fact, I've just ordered it on Amazon...no grass growing under my feet...lol)

I really feel focused now so I do think this is the way to go. :)

If you intend to grow your plants in containers then by all means use a large sized gravel (say 12mm) on top of a membrane. Be generous with the depth of gravel or you may quickly get bare patches and the membrane can get punctured. This is what we have done in the 'work area' of our garden and it works well.
I have just been wading through your comments on my pictures Whistonlass (welcome and thank you for your interest ;-)), and would point out that there is no membrane used in the garden areas. I like my plants to be able to self seed and I don't really mind the weeding. This gravel is 6mm and although we live in a cat region with two of our own, I don't find them messing in the gravel.
If you go down the gravel rout you will need a lot of it to start with. If you have a local sand and gravel quarry go and see what they have. Bulk delivery from the quarry is much cheaper than from anywere else. Handy size bags from the garden centre is probably the most expensive way to buy it.

Some of the nurseries and building centres around about will deliver gravel but I haven't sussed it out as yet. I will see if there are any quarries nearby I will make enquiries there.

I wouldn't entertain buying it at places like B&Q in the handy bags....it would cost a fortune and I'd need an awful lot of bags too! I may buy contrasting gravels that way after I get started...but that's in the future and only for very small areas.

I'll take on board your advice about the size of gravel too, BH. Lots to consider....thanks all for your generous advice.

Just to throw spanner in the works if the area is for the grandchildren to play on gravel isn't a very friendly surface and if they are enthusiastic boys of a certain age and they run around on they gravel will fly about. Me, I'd go for the gravel and the odd nag (actually our son would shout - stop running in Gamma's garden) but we do have a large park/play area not two minutes walk from the house...

Yes, I hear what you are saying MG....it wouldn't be ideal for the grandkids BUT nana ain't no spring chicken and we did talk about gravel vs grandkids in our discussions today and decided as we would be spending a lot more time in the garden than the grandkids we wouldn't likely change our minds. And the grandkids have a huge garden at home...and we have a playground/park at the top of our road (about a 5-10 minute walk with adult supervision as it's a very busy road here).

Watch this space :) I agree....go with the gravel and the odd nag about running in nana's garden :) lol

I've found even with a leaf blower, it's an awful job getting autumn/ winter leaves off gravel. The blower blows the little stones with the leaves so you lose a lot of it. Using a rake is much slower and you still rake up quite a bit of the surface that way too. I don't think it's that good a surface for under trees, or where the leaves collect when it's windy.

Thankfully trees are not a problem for us as all the leaves that do fall in our neighbourhood are at the front of our property where we have no garden. I can see where they would be a problem though if there were trees in ours or adjoining gardens, Beattie.

In that case, go for it Whistonlass! :-)

I'd definitely go with the gravel... why have grass you have to keep cutting if you don't need to! But then I am biased we have no grass at all!

Totally agree MG....it's the low maintenance that appeals, especially as I've had such a bad back for 2 or 3 weeks now...not getting any younger so shouldn't make more work for us by putting in turf!

Just have to source the gravel and get some prices...hope it's not too shocking pricewise!!

A large part of the price is composed of delivery charge, so the advice to buy locally sourced is good. Have a look in yellow pages and phone around. Or google and email for quotes.

Whistonlass,we bought our gravel from a builders merchants.I can't remember how much it was,but it was cheaper than the garden centres,and they had a lot more choice of colours.We bought a light coloured mixture of shades,and also one bag of a red brick shade,to mix in,as it picked up the colour of the edging stones.It all looked a bit bright at first,but has mellowed nicely over the years..I'm sure you will find a colour of your choice..good luck.

I am going to check out builders' merchants as well as other local suppliers of gravel...I'm sure you are correct Bloomer...they will be much better priced than GC. And Beattie you are so right that local is best!

I'll get into the search tomorrow when businesses are again open.

Think about how you want he gravel area to look. Our gravel paths are dull looking because they are not the focus... just something to walk on (and about a foot of gravel!). The 'decorative' gravel area is red granite as this works with the pavers.

I am putting a lot of store in receiving the gravel garden book by Beth Chatos as it has been recommended (should come from Amazon tomorrow).

I will choose more than one type of gravel and we have also talked about looking into bark chippings for one area to break up the gravel and a path of gravel inlaid with round stepping stones.

Our daughter suggested using some slate as well....the ideas just keep rolling in.

I'll have a better idea after I've got my teeth into the book. Thanks for your reply, MG. I'll try not to add so many comments here in the questions section....and begin to write progress blogs...better idea :)

re gravel being unkind to children: I was looking online for mulch-substitutes, and found that one can buy rubber chips, some of which were labelled "for play areas".

Would this be a good compromise? do the duty of a mulch but be kinder to being fallen on? I think it comes in serveral different colours so that could be an added interest.

ps I didn't get any myself because they seem to be sold in bulk - well, more bulk than I need!

Fran, thanks for your reply regarding the gravel situation. If you look on a couple of my latest blogs you'll see that we opted for turf and borders/patio. It's all been constructed now and I'm well into planting it up. It was completed yesterday by a very competent team of the garden lady and 2 men.

Yes, buying in bulk works out much cheaper but sometimes the quantities are more than we really need. I have about 1/3 or 1/2 ton of grit sand in one of those large bags that come delivered via a truck with a winch...just have to work out what is the best way to put it to use or recycle it.

If you are thinking about ditching the lawn then you are right, you can cover the lawn with a good membrane and put some edging around the lawn, and fill it with decorative aggregates, with a few feture stones and you can even get small water features and standing stones.
all this can transform a plain old lawn and can give you a fantastict visual effect.
have a look at the diferent garden designes in the gallery at www.decorativeaggregates.com
and they will deliver products direct to your home.

*s* always promised myself that if I ever got a a garden big enough to have a lawn, I'd have artificial grass - don't need cutting or weeding, and can go right up to the bases of the trees that I'd have. I did see a plalce that sold artificiial meadow grass, but do you think I can find the damn place again? all I get is stuff for cricket pitches and bowls greens!

Fran, I don't know what you've got in the advert box top right of this page, but mine's an advert for fake grass - company's called Evergreen if you want to find them direct on line. I have to say, there are now some very good fake grasses about - one garden I know of has it and I couldn't tell the difference between it and the real one next door, except it looked in better condition.

*s* I've got Homebase and Four ways to avoid running out of money during retirement!

but I'll have a look for them, thanks for the tip.

ps I did try another Google for "artificial meadow grass" (in quotes, but I still got a lot of "posh" grasses) but at least there were a couple of others - still not the medium long grass that I'm sure I found last time, though.

it's all academic, anyway, as that's what I'd do *when* I got a garden big enough. Lidl's did fake grass mats, and I bought four - one of em's doing duty as a bedroom mat, nice to feel under my feet first thing in the morning - the other three will probably be more than enough for the space I have, once I've got it sorted - lol gonna be hard enough moving all the plants and tables there and there without moving the lawn as well!