Why I Oughta...

This past Winter, I identified that we were experiencing some 'sinking' in the gravel walkway on the side of our house .  I put it together using Bluestone Chips and some metal edging, but starting last year, I noticed that the 'level' of gravel seemed to be going DOWN with time.  Looking back, when I installed the path in 2021, I went pretty 'thin' with the Bluestone chips on the path - because I used MOST of them back by the firepit.   Last Summer, I made a couple of trips to the landscape supply yard and brought home 50 gallons of stone that I applied to the firepit area and the side path.  I thought that'd be enough to raise the level of the stone.  But, alas...it still felt like it was sinking. So, fixing this 'sinking' gravel on the path is something I want to take-on in 2024.  I even included it in my 'early look' at 2024 projects .    There are a number of (potential) methods that one could use to try to keep the gravel from sinking ...

Over the past few years, I've been adding Bluestone Chips to a path on the north side of our house that takes you from our driveway to the back/side boardwalk.   One of the items on my 2024 to-do list is to sort out what is going on over there.  Is the gravel sinking in?  What do I do to remedy the situation?  Larger gravel?  Some sort of grid?    Next Summer, before I add more Bluestone Chips, I need to diagnose the failure and implement a remedy.

A few towns over, we have a landscape supply place that is open-to-the-public and offers some of their bulk items like mulch and stone on a 'you fill' basis.  That means that you bring your own buckets and shovel and they sell it to you by the gallon.  NOT by the weight.  Well...I sort of guess that they've priced it 'by weight', but they sell it by the gallon.  They want you to bring in five-gallon buckets as that's the easiest way to go.   We have a short sideyard path and our firepit ring filled with Bluestone Chips that we installed in Summer 2021 that have worked out well for us in both spots.  But, when I installed them, I used whatever Bluestone chips that we had on hand - I made one order.  So, I spread them a little thin because I wanted to fill in both spots (path + firepit) to make both viable.   Part of my 2023 to-to list was to keep upgrading the firepit area and in that post, I mentioned adding some new Bluestone chips t...

Six weeks ago, I posted a photo of part of our garden path on the northside of our house that we installed this Summer that featured a metal edge and a thick layer of Bluestone chips for the gravel.  In that post (from early August), I showed a view from a concrete landing forward to the gate on our fence .  The Bluestone garden path extends PAST the gate and (now) connects our driveway with our backyard.  Or....mostly does.  There's still another section to do that I think we're going to have to do in pavers with a retaining wall.   But, I wanted to capture in the [ garden diary ] how the path works with the driveway.  You can see below how I flared the edging out to make a wider birth and tapered it back to a 48" wide path as it makes the curve around that Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea.  As I said back in August, this project wasn't on my 2021 to-do list , but it should have been.  It was something that we NEEDED to get done and now gives me...

  Getting this project done was *NOT* on my 2021 to-do list , but it should have been.  Although, I'd hesitate to call this project 'done', rather more like (this part) being 85% done.  The edging is installed (and has been for a month or more) and now I've put down the minimum amount of bluestone chips gravel, so the path is no longer a muddy mess.  The dark spots you see above are because I tried this path with larger paver/steppers laid in the ground with gravel around them, but it wasn't working.  So, I yanked them out and put down additional gravel.  They will dry out and the whole thing will look uniform in a half-a-day or so. This area has the firewood racks on the left and some random hostas and ferns that I've stuck here over the years on the right.  But...in looking at the inspiration photo here ...not too bad, right?   I still have to extend this path all the way to the driveway, but for now we've solved the most pressing part of t...