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How do you prepare the ground for a gravel garden?

How to create a gravel garden Double dig the ground to a depth of two spits (the length of a spade blade) and dig in a generous amount of organic compost. Then, add a 5cm layer of gravel mulch over the whole surface and rake over it to ensure it is smooth. More items... •

theenglishgarden.co.uk - How to create a gravel garden
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Discover more about the iconic Gravel Garden at Beth Chatto Gardens in Essex and find out how to create a gravel garden in your own growing space. Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden is one of the greatest horticultural successes of modern English gardening. The space features beautiful, curved beds that are home to a huge variety of vibrant plants. Better still, it never requires any watering. If this sounds like the type of garden you’d like to have, read on for tips on how to create a gravel garden in your own space.

Background to the Gravel Garden

When Beth Chatto and her husband, Andrew, decided to make a garden from scratch on a fruit farm Andrew owned in Essex, they knew a mammoth task lay ahead. It was an unloved patch: boggy in some places, dry elsewhere, difficult. Still, Beth turned adversity into opportunity, thinking not just about what she would like to grow, but also about the best places in which to grow them. Thus emerged several distinct gardens defined by soil type and microclimate and the plants best suited to these conditions. It was the beginning of one of the great gardening tenets of our time: right plant, right place. Of the many areas Chatto cultivated – the shady woodland area, for example, and the Mediterranean Garden – the final area established was her iconic Gravel Garden. Before the winter of 1991-1992, visitors used the Leylandii-hedged grass area at the garden’s entrance to park their cars. Chatto cleared the area and redesigned it using hosepipes to create large curving shapes, like a dried-up riverbed with islands of planting. Her vision was a main path meandering through boldly planted areas with no visible hard edges. The plants survive without irrigation and if plants chosen from her drought-tolerant lists died, they were replaced with others that proved better-suited. The Gravel Garden has consequently become one of Chatto’s most famous designs, being both inspirational and influential.

How to create a gravel garden

1. Double dig the ground to a depth of two spits (the length of a spade blade) and dig in a generous amount of organic compost. 2. Then, add a 5cm layer of gravel mulch over the whole surface and rake over it to ensure it is smooth. 3. If you’d like to mimic Chatto’s curved beds, the best way to mark them out is by using a garden hose. 4. Once the area is fit for planting, submerge the plants in water for about five minutes and then plant them. Afterwards, give them another good water before applying a few inches of gravel to the surface. 5. It’s a good idea to include plants with different heights, textures and colours for interest, while maintaining cohegency with accents of the same colours. Plant your foliage first and move onto flowers later. See list below for variety ideas. 6. Once established, don’t be afraid to tug out self-seeded plants before they dominate the whole area. Rigorous deadheading in late spring will extend the season.

Drought-tolerant plants

Most of these plants require well-drained soil and will not survive being waterlogged in winter.

Plants:

Acanthus

Agapanthus

Allium

Artemisia

Bearded Iris

Centaurea

Crocosmia

Cynara

Dictamnus

Echinops

Eryngium

Euphorbia

Gaura

Gladiolus papilo

Glaucium

Lavandula

Libertia grandiflora

Linum

Nepeta

Penstemon

Phlomis

Salvia

Sedum

Stachys

Verbascum

Grasses:

Elymus magellanicus

Eragrostis curvula

Festuca

Helictotrichon

Holcus mollis

Leymus arenarius

Melica altissima

Pennisetum

Stipa

For more detailed information, get yourself a copy of ‘Drought-Resistant Planting: Lessons from Beth Chatto’s Gravel Garden’ by Beth Chatto.

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What area does a tonne of 20mm gravel cover?

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The first step is to calculate the area of the section you would like to cover with gravel. The area calculation = A x B (Where A & B are 2 sides of a square or rectangular area). For example, if your driveway measures 4m wide (A) by 12m long (B) the total area you need to cover is 48 sqm. If you are looking to fill a driveway or path with gravel, we recommend the depth of the area should be 50mm thick as it will experience higher traffic. For covering planted areas, the depth only needs to be around 30mm thick.

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