The Best Type Of Gravel For A Landscape Pathway

Whether you want to add a stylish walkway to your yard or need to cover a muddy pathway near your home, gravel is a great, inexpensive option. With the many different types of gravel to consider, choosing the best gravel primarily depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

For a walkable pathway through your yard, the best selection is typically pea gravel, which measures about ⅜ of an inch in diameter. The biggest benefit is that the individual rocks have rounded edges that are comfortable to walk on with bare feet. You don't have to worry about sharp edges or don shoes every time you want to step outside. Pea gravel also allows water to quickly drain through the rocks to the ground below, which limits erosion in the area and makes it easier to walk on the path after a rainstorm. You can maintain the path by raking it occasionally. Pea gravel is cheap at about $1 per square foot of coverage.

If you do choose pea gravel, however, make sure to use some sort of border edging to hold it in place. The individual stones are so small that they will move around without concrete, brick, plastic, or metal edging. Additionally, pea gravel tends to shift when you walk on it, which may be dangerous if people who have a walker or cane are going to be using the path.

If the downsides of using pea gravel in landscaping have you thinking about going in a different direction, there are other options for creating a pathway. These options may not be as well-known or popular as pea gravel, but they may fit your needs better.

Bank run gravel consists of a mixture of materials, including small rocks, pebbles, dirt, and sand. Some of the stones can be as large as 2 inches in diameter, but most of the material is small. The gravel compacts easily, so it become quite firm over time, making it easy to walk on a pathway without sinking into the ground. As the name suggests, the gravel comes from river banks, so it's a naturally occurring material. Bank run gravel typically costs a bit less than pea gravel, but the overall price depends on the size of your project. Because the material has larger rocks instead of smaller particles, though, it may not be very comfortable for bare feet.

Another option is Jersey Shore gravel. The size of the stones in this mix are similar to pea gravel, but the shapes of individual stones are more irregular. Jersey Shore gravel has yellow and brown colors that resemble sand, so it may fit well in a landscape that has desert or beach elements. Jersey Shore gravel is generally several times more expensive than pea gravel, however.