The path's finish layer is gravel, like it was before. This gravel, however, is much smaller than the previous was. It's going to take a while to settle. Tasha's (and our) footprints are obvious. As are the leaves falling from the linden tree. Nothing stays pristine for long.
We could have gone with a hard surface (pavers or bricks) for the path. That would have been much easier to keep free of fallen leaves and other debris, but it would probably have cost a good deal more in labor. The gravel goes with the rest of the walkway around the house and the driveway, so it made sense to go that way.
I'm hopeful that, at least for the first few years, it will be easy to keep weeds out of the path. I don't think there was any weed barrier in the path before now. I don't know how well they work, so we'll see. Pulling the odd weed will be easy for a while. I'll be interested to see what happens when it starts raining again.
Excellent! And I still marvel at the beautiful lines of the trimmed hedge. I think you’re going to have some fun collecting photos of the entire project.
ReplyDeleteLooks neat!
ReplyDeleteWow, I go away for a few days and look what happens! The new path is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteIt looks great!
ReplyDeleteWe have a mulch-covered garden path into our back yard, from the driveway. We have to add about 14 bags of new mulch every spring. Then, the crabgrass and other weeds start popping up through the mulch (mostly in a certain 10-foot stretch), so we FINALLY thought to put down garden cloth first, this year... so much better!
That looks very nice. You must be so pleased!
ReplyDeleteWe've had excellent luck with weed-barrier. The plastic stuff lasts the longest, but needs to be buried away from UV light (like yours) or else it rots ugly (flakes of black stuff). But I've even had good luck with four layers of newsprint or a single layer of brown building paper; if if the newsprint is buried a quarter-inch or so under dirt or mulch, it lasts for two years before it rots into the soil, long enough to help in the vegetable garden. I recommend the New York Times Sunday edition. Building paper lasts much longer, but also eventually rots into the soil.
And thank you for writing for us for 16 years. Such a pleasure to read!
ReplyDeleteI second what chrissoup said.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know why my above comment tripled. Les joyeusetés de l’électronique?
mitch, I am!
ReplyDeletechm, it is. It is. It is. ;)
bettyann, it's what I imagined when I looked at the old path. It was new, too, once upon a time.
judy, 14 bags! That's a lot of mulch!
chris, I never thought of using it in the vegetable garden. D'oh! But how do I get the NYT Sunday edition off my screen and into the dirt? ;)
I am glad to see the end results too !
ReplyDeleteThe weed barrier stuff generally works, and yours was professionally installed. If you do get an errant weed or two, spray it with white vinegar, right on the roots. Kills off the weed and doesn't pollute the groundwater.
ReplyDelete