Gravel pit is a variety of stone garden, suitable especially for modern gardens built in a formal style.It can be both a small flowerbed and an elegant garden.
The gravel pit is made of stones of different factions.We start the construction by removing the top layer of the substrate to a depth of 25-30 centimeters.Then mix the soil in equal proportions with the broken stone with a fraction of 16-32 millimeters and scatter the ballast within the designed surface to a thickness of 20 -25 centimeters and covered with a fleece.
This material is indispensable, on the one hand it is permeable to water and air, on the other hand it does not allow weeds to develop.Thanks to the non-woven fabric, the stone is separated from the ballast.Planting is done after unfolding the non-woven fabric, first cutting it crosswise, and then, in places intended for plants, selecting the soil with a spatula.
Cover the planted bed with a five-centimeter layer of gravel or grit - at the bottom we scatter stones with a smaller fraction. On a level, non-weeded terrain, the gravel can also be made without removing the ground.Then the pebbles only mask the non-woven fabric and, not being part of the substrate, do not affect the development of plants.A similar variant can be adopted for paths. It is enough to remove 5-10 centimeters of soil, level and compact the substrate, and sprinkle grit or crushed stone on the non-woven fabric.
The gravel pit should be kept impeccably clean.It is enough to put a little earth or humus from rotten leaves between the pebbles, and weeds will soon appear.In the shade, the stones quickly turn green with algae and lichen.
If they are large enough, they can be cleaned with a pressure washer. It is best to rake small ones. Where a gravel bed borders a lawn, a plastic or metal band should be buried in the ground.Thanks to it, the stone will not spill onto the grass.It is not recommended to set up gravel pits near large deciduous trees and shrubs.
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Clumpy grasses, such as miscanthus, grafted spherical dwarf varieties of pines and palm maple, look particularly attractive in the gravel pit. In summer, the arrangement of golden spurge, yarrow, tritome and spiked mole looks great.Unfortunately, not all plants grow well in gravel, because in such conditions mycorrhiza cannot occur, which affects the proper development of some plants.
The gravel layer slightly deteriorates the air and water properties of the soil.In such conditions it is especially not recommended to cultivate rhododendrons and other plants from the heather family, although it is already possible in a rock garden without gravel bedding.
