Rocks Or Gravel: Which Is Better For Your Garden Pathways?

When you set out to DIY a garden pathway, one of the easiest surfacing options to install is stone, like gravel or crushed rocks. By creating a pathway with these materials, you can effectively control the spread of weeds or grass that would otherwise migrate into your flower or vegetable garden. Using gravel or rock instead of grass as the surface also simplifies pathway maintenance. With a stone pathway in place, you have more time to take care of your flowers and vegetables and spend less time trimming around raised garden beds. What's more, creating a path in the garden is a good way to help people move among the plants safely, without stepping on them. The right stone pathway design will define different spaces in the garden, too.

Both rock and gravel are excellent materials for garden pathways because they're affordable and facilitate rain and sprinkler water drainage. When installing gravel or rock, you shouldn't have to excavate the way you would when installing pavers, which simplifies the installation. To level the gravel or rock, you can simply use a rake, because a stone surface doesn't have to be perfectly even to make it comfortable for walking. However, rock and gravel are two different materials. Gravel is an aggregate that comprises small stones with rounded edges, which make it a great choice for comfort and aesthetics. Meanwhile, rock is made up of crushed stone that has sharper edges, which lend themselves to better compaction and keeping weeds at bay. With these distinctions in mind, you'll want to consider which one is better in your circumstances. 

One key advantage of gravel is that it doesn't pack as tightly as crushed rocks, meaning water can drain through it more easily. If you constantly water the garden along with the pathway, gravel is the better choice for drainage and keeping the path free of puddles. Another advantage is that gravel appears in many colors, making it a visually appealing option among a sea of green plants. It's a long-lasting material, although you'll want to add a bit more of the aggregate to the paths every few years to replenish washouts. Because of the stones' rounded edges, gravel is comfortable to walk on with bare feet or in thin shoes. Some of the most common types of gravel to consider include pea and Jersey shore gravel. 

Gravel comes with a few minor downsides you'll need to address during installation. If you're concerned about keeping weeds and stray blades of grass out of the garden pathway, you'll need at least 2 inches of gravel on the pathway surface. Creating this depth can increase the cost of the project. Additionally, small pieces of gravel will try to shift off the path, meaning they could end up in your garden soil. For the best results, you'll need to use an edging material to hold the individual stones in place. 

Rock used in garden pathways is a type of crushed stone with larger pieces and rougher edges than gravel. Some of the most common types of rock to use in landscaping include crushed marble and limestone. Crushed rock compacts more densely on a pathway surface than gravel. This tight compaction makes it easier to keep stray grass and weeds from growing inside the garden path. It's best used in high-traffic walkways, as it won't move outside the edges of the path as easily as gravel. If you go with an option like crushed marble, you end up with mostly white- and gray-colored stones. These can be a great choice in a flower garden, since they allow the vibrant colors of the flowers to stand out.

One disadvantage to a crushed rock pathway is that the larger, sharp-edged stones can be uncomfortable to walk on with bare feet or in thin-soled shoes. If you want to push a stroller, walker, or wheelchair through a crushed rock path, the wheels will not roll smoothly on the jagged stones. Larger rocks also absorb more sunlight throughout the day, meaning they'll radiate heat longer than smaller gravel pieces, possibly affecting the health of nearby garden plants.