Paths?

[Cairnsview]

Hi Charles and everyone else,

I’m about to create a new garden out of an old lawn and thanks to your wonderful site, books and videos, I think I’m pretty ‘down’ with the various no dig and construction options for the beds, but what about the paths? 

My plan is to get a mini digger in (its about half an acre) to excavate out the paths and turn the topsoil from the paths onto the new beds, which will be no dig, mulched etc. I will build them with wooden edging initially, to help define the shapes and contain all the material until they settle down, but like Charles am in a relatively warm and wet, sluggy, heavy clay area (south west scotland), so will be removing the boards ASAP!

How do you construct and maintain your paths? How do you manage the edges once boards are removed? What materials/ methods do you use on paths?

My ideas so far are:

a) that black porous membrane stuff with wood chip on top, which will presumably need composted/ replaced/ topped up annually;

b) paving slabs directly into the soil with gaps/ edges inter-sown with thyme, chamomile, strawberries etc (which will need weeded);   

c) thickly sown with clover as an alternative to grass, and which I can live with encroachng onto beds.

Any thoughts on these ideas or any suggestions/ tips for low maintenance paths from experience? My main concern is stopping re-encroachment of couch grass, which is a major component of the current ‘lawn’! 

Many thanks

Cara 

[Daucus]

I’ve found permeable mulches and plants have all been great slug harbours. Bare earth is my preferred option as it is easy to hoe once everything’s under control. Having said that, it’s very wet here and the soil is pure clay, so it can get slippy in the rain. Straw on the paths over winter keeps them clear of most weeds, and it usually rots down in time for summer when it’s left bare. Hope that helps…!

[Cairnsview]

Thanks Daucus! Will have a think about that- very helpful. I’ve also been inspired by Alan Carter http://scottishforestgarden.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/paths/ who uses wood chip pretty successfully it seems. Would still be interested to hear others’ thoughts/ experience, esp . Charles? 

[Stringfellow]

Bare paths with a surface dressing of compost has worked well for me, following Charles experiences. Plants root into them to feed and the compost makes weeding much easier, holding on to moisture better. I considered green manure on paths to maximise compost bulk returns on my plot. However, I abandoned the idea as they would probably harbour slugs during wet/ damp weather.

I hope this helps a bit. Enjoy your gardening; it’s great to see everything getting underway at this time of year.

[charles]

Yes paths are a big quesrtion and personally I like compost as the final cover, once perennial weeds are dead. A load of council compost would be cheaper than paving slabs and adds goodness to soil to. Couch and other weeds are easy to see and remove. Its the least sluggy option too. 

Here I have used some wood shavings in some paths for reducing winter slipperiness, they were free from the neighbour’s manure heap, but some are ending up on beds, kicked by blackbirds and recently a badger, so they can be messy depending on your wildlife, bed shape etc. I hope it all works well for you.

[Cairnsview]

Thanks Charles and Stringfellow- all very helpful. I’m finding it hard to imagine getting to the stage of having so much compost I can spare it for paths but will experiment with bare earth and wood chip meantime. Your advice much appreciated!

[zuf]

My favourite for paths are leaves. They act like cardboard, and are even longer lasting, supress weeds a lot and are not prefered by slugs.

[Rhys]

I was using 50cm paths in between 1.5m beds without boarding. I did need to put big pebbles on top to stop them blowing away, even after it had rained a few times, but after 6 months they are rotting down nicely and there are very few weeds. I wasn’t harvesting any winter crops, though, so the slipperiness didn’t matter last winter, although in future a better solution will be required for harvesting.

I think you can buy long rolls of cardboard of a defined width so you could use that and anchor it at regular intervals along your path.

[Author]

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