The Secret to Weed-Free Gravel Garden Pathways

Axe & Root Homestead®️, Permaculture Made Simple

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For years I have felt like I was pulling the same weeds over and over again in the exact same locations, in my garden pathways. Rye grass, crab grass, goldenrod. I would pull weeds for hours and two days later they’d be back.
I used high-quality landscaping fabric and gravel in my pathways-and it was stunning and weed-free for a couple of months. Then it became a nightmare to keep weed-free. It was during a random conversation with a family member that I discovered the problem… landscaping fabric. I pulled it up and waited a month before creating and sharing this video to make sure this really worked. And it’s been a complete game-changer.
So if landscaping fabric is a no-go, what to use in the future? I’ll be sticking with heavy-sheet-mulching with cardboard, compost and soil. This approach hasn’t steered me wrong yet in creating growing spaces. In the future, I’ll do the same on walkways, personally.
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Опубликовано:

21 июн 2023

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Комментарии : 38

@GDSavingThePast Месяц назад

Something you may want to try in the future on your gravel paths is to put down a 2 to 3 inch compacted layer of decomposed granite and then top that with your pea gravel. Best thing I ever did on one of my paths.

@d.r.7943 Месяц назад

I am European and in the old days all the Castles and Cottage gardens had gravel paths and drives! The key to weed free is periodic raking. It dislodges weed seedlings In the old days they hand raked small areas and the long driveways were maintained by pulling large rakes with horses. No landscape fabrics! I hand rake my small areas with small gravel and my large long driveway I rake with my lawn tractor. I built a rake device with 2x4s and landscape nails for a rake that i drag behind. Mine has a board with a lip on top in the back where I line up solid concrete blocks for weight and bungy them on because my driveway has larger rocks so they don't get stuck in tires. It requires weight so the rake doesn't just pop around on top.The raking also takes care of any ruts made by cars. If I should get the occasional weed I either pull or spray it but the more you rake the more weed free you stay as you got to dislodge seedlings while they are small and can root all the way down to soil or cover them up with gravel and take away the light. Raking gravel is still less work then mowing a lawn every week.

@AxeAndRootHomestead Месяц назад

This is great information and your invention sounds amazing! How often do you rake? I have seen the incredible hoggin paths and drives on old European properties and saw that’s it’s a blend of clay, sand, and stone I think? I couldn’t find anything similar here in the states. I would love to find a “recipe” and make my own!

@d.r.7943 Месяц назад

@@AxeAndRootHomestead I am not a fan of hoggin paths that are mainly used in England. I find that they generate way too much dust. In England maybe not so much with all their rainy days. LOL My rake is not my invention as gravel rakes and gravel drags can be purchased. Many are made for larger tractors and used to maintain farm gravel roads. They are a bit pricey for me so I made mine. I also can disassemble mine and store it in my garden shed. I rake about once a week in spring for summer weeds and autumn for winter weeds. Every 2-3 weeks in summer or when I see small weeds anywhere that are too many to pull or spray. It all depends on your property and what is around. If you got a neighbor that let's his weeds grow more then you too will have more weeds. Spring and Autumn are the times when weeds go to seed most. I get a beverage and music and just cruise around my paths and drives To me it's a fun activity.LOL

@need4HIM 21 день назад

I agree with what you said about landscaping fabric. I made the same discovery in my mulch bed. Last year, I shoved aside all the mulch (it was tedious) and laid down cardboard which I salvaged from my Amazon and grocery deliveries. Actually I did not pull up all the landscaping fabric, because I had used numerous staples to hold it down. But I did pull up quite a bit. I just laid the cardboard on top of it, (carefull to overlap the cardboard pieces). The cardboard did smother a lot of weeds.I was weed free!! In fact it prevented almost 100% of the weeds from growing back. I have a few problems with grass in my mulch and rock bed still, because my landscapers blow cut grass into those areas. But the cardboard does work fine otherwise. Now I have to do something with my lawncutting service...lol.

@mbpblue День назад

Great advise. Thank you

@nageldev 6 месяцев назад

But... you didn't actually tell us any "secret" to weed-free gravel pathways. Getting rid of fabric may stop build-up underneath like you encountered, but without it, you're going to be forever fighting growth coming through. Instead of weeding once a month, you'll be weeding daily.

@CharmsMaster Год назад

Thank you for sharing this! Definitely something to think about.

@williamphillips777 4 месяца назад

Oh wow! I literally just unrolled some and was taking lunch break and watched this. This makes total sense and i was even considering concrete and poly sand or something....Im taking the fabric up right now! Thanks for this...might of saved me years of struggle 😂.

@robertspitzner8060 Год назад

Awesome video! That fabric eventually needs to be replaced and is a mess to clean up. I cringe when I see so many homesteaders give up on mulches and weeding to use this stuff.

@AxeAndRootHomestead Год назад

I totally agree!

@thenextpoetician6328 Месяц назад

In time, the neighbor will see the same problem. He's using cedar bark. The hedge went in last summer. It's already going downhill. I use a mix of bark and rotting wood scraps, sawdust, and chop and drop. I generally keep weeds to a dull roar, and they compost in place, except quack grass.

@shaunsshelf Год назад

I think you just saved me so much money, thank you!

@AxeAndRootHomestead Год назад

Thanks for watching!

@louisvl10 9 месяцев назад

working on a garden where the previous owner laid that fabric but never laid gravel. i can confirm this is hell to fix now. 10 years without maintenance, got all sorts of bushes with roots in the fabric making it so much harder to pull out. i think im gonna rip all that fabric out and try like you say. been trying to save the fabric but by removing the stumps it's full of holes anyway now.

@AxeAndRootHomestead 9 месяцев назад

Ugh. Good luck to you!

@bdBSF Месяц назад

Thank you, thank you thank you… I had heard a few people talk about not using landscape fabric, but no one explained why… This makes a lot of sense to me! And I do have several beds where the weeds are just entrenched through landscape fabric. Ugh. Dreading this job.

@AxeAndRootHomestead Месяц назад

Glad it was helpful! I know some folks love it but I think those roots in that fabric speak for themselves! You can do it! 💪🏼

@wwtv361 Месяц назад

Without some kind of barrier, the gravel eventually works its way into our clay soil -- even harder to deal with than weeds.

@AxeAndRootHomestead Месяц назад

I’ve got clay as well! This route has been working much better for me. 😊

@danflensborg1504 2 месяца назад

❤Hi, and thank you so much for this lovely video 🙏 I am going to dig down and find out, what is beneath our grabble 😉👍 Best regards from Ebeltoft, Denmark / Dan

@AxeAndRootHomestead 2 месяца назад

You’re welcome 😊

@sunnybizz4857 Месяц назад

I pulled up my fabric years ago and found quack grass roots weaving itself into the fibers. It's impossible to pull out. I'm converting to a 3 inch deep cover of wood chips

@georgannedermigny5992 Месяц назад

will this help with tubers ?

@MsCaterific Год назад

Interesting 🤔

@mrsmalkin28 4 месяца назад

So you pulled up the fabric, then added layers of cardboard, compost, and soil, then put the pea gravel back on? Trying to figure out exactly what I need to do if I go through the effort of pushing our gravel and pulling up the fabric. Thank you!!

@AxeAndRootHomestead 4 месяца назад

Hi! I would definitely do cardboard then compost for filling a raised bed. For walkways though, I just pulled the fabric back and pushed the gravel back on top of the packed down soil. The soil is so packed down (and I have clay between the beds) that it makes a firm substrate for the gravel. I think we often forget most weeds are wind-spread and down from the top, not underneath (unless there’s a plant with runners or tubers). I hope that helps a bit!

@besteva5651 3 месяца назад

So what did you put down, just the rocks?😊

@coreyfrench7826 2 месяца назад

Im curious as well because she listed cardboard and mulch and i want to know the order. Because im laying pavers. So i might try spraying weed repellent, lay card board then pavers, and mulch it but then i dunno what to do with the 4 bags of large gravel i got

@connorflanagan9329 Месяц назад

What you need is weed mat and not fabric. Weed mat is made from ploypropylene.

@Vananh-rp9xv 6 дней назад

No fabric gravel makes me weed every spring like crazy. Buy thick fabric make it less .

@Dominolly 2 месяца назад

I've just recently reclaimed a small wild patch of garden for a greenhouse and produce area. The home's previous owners had put down the landscape fabric and I can confirm that it is EVIL! It had a whole network of weeds growing through it and on top of it where compost had naturally formed. It was very hard to pull up, there are still ribbons of "cassette tape" running through the soil. Awful stuff.

@AxeAndRootHomestead 2 месяца назад

Thank you for watching! Yeah I think a lightbulb moment for me happened, unfortunately, after the fabric had already been in place for a long time and I was pulling the exact same weeds in the same locations over and over again. The only way to extract the root was to cut a hole in the fabric to remove it entirely. Then when my father in law told me his perspective, it confirmed it for me.

@pamschaw3842 Год назад

My family thinks I'm nuts for refusing to put down landscaping fabric in my new garden paths. I hate it so much and have always suspected it was doing more harm than good. I feel so vindicated! 😂

@AxeAndRootHomestead Год назад

Haha! I’m glad! Your suspicions are valid 🤣

@rickm5853 Месяц назад

round up

@javier0304 3 месяца назад

I believe you used the wrong fabric. The stuff they sell at big box stores are garbage. You have to get landscape woven fabric. There’s some that can last for like 10 years. The one I use is made by Dewitt. It’s the 3.2 oz fabric. They make stronger commercial 5.0 oz fabric but it cost more money.