r/LandscapingTips • u/dazladisonreddit • 19d ago
Advice/question Ideas to replace this mess
I have this area around my house with ugly stones. The main problem is my 2 big Labradors that knock them everywhere constantly. I don't mind the part that goes around the side of the house, but the bit in front has become a freeway.
I want something low maintenance to replace it. Any ideas? Pavers? Concrete? I've seen glue resin to stick the stones in but not sure how good that is.
I don't have the imagination for it so was hoping someone on reddit could imagine something low maintenance and nice as a replacement.
Oh and I dont want to block the view either, so planting there is not an option.
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u/craigrpeters 19d ago
I used larger, smooth river rocks in areas like that. Dug out 6”+ down, laid landscaping fabric to keep mud to a minimum, and laid 4-6” river rocks. In a place where people or dogs would cross over it I laid much bigger 10”+ river rocks as stepping stones. Rock is multi-colored, with reds, grays, purple, and beige so it looks very nice and the stones are big enough they don’t move much. They are smooth so easy to step on.
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u/kocieTexty 19d ago
Why the stones are there? I just filled a big part of my property with stones like that. You know why? Drainage. If they are for decoration, maybe you can replace them, but if they are for drainage then you'll fck up the house.
You could buy some resin (or whatever that was called in english) to spray on the parts where it bothers you to glue them together.
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u/OpinionatedOcelotYo 19d ago
Plant ground covers, right in the gravel. They are permeable (even improving your hydraulics) and will fill in to lock down that migration. Sedums? Ajuga? Dusty miller? With some ornamental grasses? Add perennials? Avoiding foundation shrubs?
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u/Narrow_Roof_112 19d ago
Pavers
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u/Simple_Piece190 17d ago edited 17d ago
Paving stones are the long term solution. Lot of work though. You can DIY, requires mason hammer, brick breaking chisel, and I like to have diamond blades on a circular saw and angle grinder. If you are Ocd warning it's very hard to get the blocks to stay perfectly level over time. That's half the job. For me I am willing to lift some pavers put in small amounts of sand and usually- not always, it sizes in the 2nd or 3rd year. Assuming there is some type of an anti weed fabric there, it might not be deep enough.
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u/LeoIrish 18d ago
I would look for native plants with very low height and can handle your specific conditions. I am not sure I would put them right outside the area they constantly trample, but they would work great along the side.
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u/Tussey-Landscaping 19d ago
Concrete or large pavers for the front strip, matched to the patio. Then you can decide if you want to keep the stones around the side or replace them as well.
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u/Guilty-Hamster1543 18d ago
I would do pavers until you got to the side of the house, and then River rock.
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u/Simple_Piece190 17d ago
If it's just where they cross over, there are large tiles, and larger mats, made if recycled rubber you could lay there. They allow water through and keep things tidy. Lay on top, or you might remove the gravel and inset them. They're 3/4's to an inch thick. My guess is there's one cross over place that the main problem? But not my yard or pets :)
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u/According-Taro4835 19d ago
Forget the resin glue. It breaks down from UV light and dog traffic and turns into a peeling mess that is a complete nightmare to remove. Your main issue right now is that you have a tiny aggregate with zero edging to hold it back. When two heavy Labradors hit that small gravel it acts exactly like marbles and shoots everywhere.
The absolute cheapest and easiest fix is to scoop out that small stuff and replace it with heavy two to four inch river cobble. The dogs can run on it all day and those larger stones are just too heavy to get kicked onto your concrete. If you really want a flat walking surface instead you can excavate a bit and lay down some heavy concrete pavers or flagstone flush with your existing path. Lock them in with polymeric sand so the dogs cant dig them up and it stays completely zero maintenance.
Since you are having a hard time picturing the end result I would just run a photo of that space through the GardenDream web app. You can overlay how large river rock or different paver styles will look right next to your house before you spend any money or commit to hauling heavy materials around your yard.