Advice on Paving and lawn replacement
Ellensmum
Posts: 2
Hello I am a new gardener with no experience and have lived at my current house for a year. Before that the garden and hedges were huge and overgrown. Up until now I have just been trying to keep on top of keeping them cut back etc but the whole thing is a mess.
At the front of the house the garden slopes downward towards the house, the grass area is uneven and full of weeds and a bit of moss (like every other bit of grass we have). I am looking to replace this with something else such as stones or slabs etc. My first thought was to dig the area level then paving slabs on it. but this is going to take a lot of digging etc. So at the moment I am considering laying a membrane and putting bark or loose stones down. To that end I have started digging up the grass. Do I really need to dig the grass up if I am to cover it with a membrane and bark? the level of the grass is lower that the path to my door so adding height with the bark or stones wouldn't be a huge issue apart from near the hedges. I assume I would have to put some sort of edge/ barrier in there to keep the bark from spreading out?
Also under the living room window there used to be an area with membrane and stones but this was wildly overgrown. I decided to put two rows of paving slabs there where my recycling bags etc could sit nicely. My step dad kindly laid these, although I am concerned that without some sort of edging that the stuff under the slabs will loosen and wash away from under them. He laid them on top of the loose stones using those as the "hardcore" and added some sand.
I am generally looking for no maintenance but not costing a fortune but neat and tidy 
Thank you
Posts
If your grass is lower, it's only by a few mm. You'll need to lay your stone chips / bark about 50mm deep, so you really do need to remove the grass. It's also best to finish the surface of the gravel / bark slightly lower than the path, so it doesn't spread onto the path. Are you going to use a timber edging alongside the hedge?
Ah so no shortcut then, oh well I shall continue to dig the grass up. I only just realised before the first post I would need edging so hadn't looked at the different types. If I have to do something to that paving as well I should probably try to incorporate them together.
thanks
There's a useful site here - http://www.pavingexpert.com/gravel01.htm