To start with, one of the main reasons we decided to have loose gravel in our garden was to minimise the costs of any sort of paving. But that was not the only reason.
We already knew the gravel would reduce water evaporation, serve as a weed barrier and would ultimately be a key factor in our quest for a low-maintenance garden. We also knew it would lend a specific aesthetic to the space by creating the key contrast that defines our garden, the one between draught-tolerant plants and fresh water.

Photo of the tree removal
But what we didn’t fully appreciate was that the gravel would itself create a habitat in itself, providing shelter for water and terrestrial wildlife and promoting our beloved self sowers.
The thick layer of gravel does indeed encourage those plants that can throw out their roots in very dry soil. These plants are the soul of our garden, which wouldn’t be the same without the yearly movement of verbenas, stipas, deschampsias, euphorbias, thymes, yarrows and sedums. They never fail to surprise and delight us when they form unexpected combinations and textures.





We started off our journey with two massive, stinky holes in the garden. Although both of them are currently partially filled with gravel, they achieve two completely different aesthetics and habitats.
One of them became a natural wildlife pond where the gravel functions as a low nutrient substrate and also as part of the water filtration. The second one, barely visible now, was filled with rubble from the garden transformation, topped with wood chips, soil and gravel, and has now become the perfect habitat for draught-tolerant plants.



The second pond, not visible now, was filled with garden rubble, topped with wood chips, soil and gravel, and has now become the perfect habitat for draught-tolerant plants.
In total, we used 18 bulky bags of gravel (shingle mostly) and 2 bulky bags of sharp sand (for the pond sand bag wall) and that meant that we carried around more than 15 tons of gravel (and sand) by wheelbarrow from the front garden to the back garden.
Looking back, it was a scary amount of work, but we hope you agree so worth it.





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