Advantages and uses of gravel in the garden
Gravel is a great way to achieve an original design for the space around your home. The islands, flowerbeds and other arrangements created using this aggregate enliven and visually enlarge the garden, whilst highlighting the beauty of the plants. These arrangements look just as good in the front areas of the property, where there is usually no room for lush vegetation, as they do in the recreational or formal areas at the back of the house. Supporters of this type of solution emphasise that an environment with gravel sections requires less maintenance than if the whole area were sown with grass or planted with flowers. – Gravel accents in the garden owe their success to the popularity of formal and Japanese-style designs, as well as perennials and so-called architectural flowers, which, when combined, create striking flowerbeds. Nevertheless, gravel compositions work well in spaces of any style, whether in urban, Mediterranean or rustic gardens. What is more, gravel is also a good material for integrating different areas of the garden. It provides a natural transition between paving and vegetation. It can also be successfully used as a substitute for other mulching materials, such as bark. It can also be used to conceal elements of the garden’s irrigation or lighting systems, or to create a border around the house,” explains Wojciech Średniawa, lead designer at Polbruk.
Creating gravel beds step by step
Step 1. It is worth starting work on creating a gravel bed by thinking through its concept and appearance. It may be helpful to sketch out a planting plan and describe the characteristics of the bed, as any subsequent adjustments – such as replanting – can be quite troublesome. You can then proceed with the work in the garden.
Step 2. Mark out the outline of the planned bed, then remove the turf and dig out the soil to a depth of about 5 centimetres. Remove all weeds and debris. Secure the edges with edging, e.g. Polbruk Canto or pavers (the whole structure should be set in concrete), or standard lawn edging, to prevent the gravel from mixing with the soil. On the levelled, settled base of the bed, you can lay a nursery mat or agrotextile, which will inhibit weed growth whilst allowing water and air to pass through.
Step 3. In the areas where we plan to plant, we cut and fold back the fabric, dig holes, and then fill them with fertile garden soil. Plant the plants, then cover their roots with the fabric. Once the flowerbed base has been prepared in this way, you can top it up with gravel. Spread a layer of at least 2–3 centimetres of basalt or granite aggregate (the pebbles can be treated separately beforehand).
Plants and care
We select plants to suit the location of the bed, the specific soil in our garden and the style of the overall design. Regardless of this, the most popular choices are: ornamental grasses, palm maples, catalpas, boxwoods, dwarf conifers, as well as mullein, rhododendrons and lavender. Maintenance of such flowerbeds is limited to periodically cleaning the gravel surface, removing any weeds that appear and watering the plants. To refresh the island, new gravel should be added from time to time.
A section of the garden created using gravel is a way to create an original space around the house. It gives the arrangement an aesthetic and elegant look. It does not require much work and is a great way to showcase plants.
