Create A Custom Outdoor Dining Area In Your Yard With A Gravel Pad DIY

An outdoor dining area is a perfect addition to a family-friendly backyard, but there's more to the decor than simply tossing some chairs and a table in a shady spot. Is it functional? Absolutely. Does it look good? Not at all. Much like the rug that brings the dining room together and defines a cohesive space, the area under your outdoor sitting arrangement can make or break the final product. While this can be one of many places for a paver installation, you can also simplify the process and still achieve delightful results with a loose gravel cover. There's no worrying about excavating a ton of soil or painstakingly setting a pattern. Instead, you just set a border, lay a fabric or tarp base, and level a gravel layer over the top, essentially cutting the paver installation process in half.

You'll love how quick it is to install and remove, allowing you to make hassle-free updates. It's easy to place in shaded garden areas, near bubbling fountains, or any other space away from the patio where you might want a more atmospheric outdoor dining experience. Between the fill and the border, there's just enough flexibility to make this DIY all your own in various fun layouts. After laying out your dining furniture to see how much space you need, you can easily install yet another peaceful garden seating space to make your backyard more inviting during the warm summer months.

Gravel pads can come in many forms, so you can adapt your plans to the tools you have. To get started, you only need a shovel, a garden rake, and enough materials to fill your measured space. Landscaping fabric or tarps will act as the base layer. The fill and edging are up to you, as different gravel and border types can vary in price, aesthetics, ease-of-installation, and durability.

Borders can create an attractive contrast with the gravel or lend subtle definition and support for the fill. If you want a rectangular gravel pad, you can use any border style, including thick timbers for a bold outline. Circular and organically shaped pads also allow several options. Different types of paver landscape edging can add interest to complement the gravel fill, or you could use flexible plastic edging like this VANEYRIE garden edging that you form into straight or curving shapes and stake in place. For a simple circle, you can even use tubing to make a clean border.

When choosing fill, you can select from gravel colors ranging from white to green to classic brown to find a perfect match for your dining set and outdoor area. Crushed gravel offers a stable surface for holding dining furniture. Pea gravel, by contrast, will be more likely to shift, requiring sturdy edging and regular maintenance, but can feel better to walk on. Compare styles, and select the gravel that best suits your criteria.

The easiest way to set up an outdoor gravel dining area is to simply add layers. Draw the area you want, and lay your border. Put down your landscaping fabric to cover the area inside the border. Run it in strips across the pad's space, overlapping each one with the strip next to it by about 4 inches. Secure the fabric's edges and overlapping sections in the ground with fabric stakes. Then, shovel in your gravel fill, using your shovel and a garden rake to even it out. Continue applying and leveling the gravel until it reaches a 2-inch depth. Tamp the gravel to help it settle, and put your dining set on top of it.

Going this route makes a gravel pad an easy-to-install, easy-to-remove project, but it's generally best for temporary setups. Over time, weeds can creep in and mar the gravel base. To protect against this, dig a few inches into the ground to remove the sod. Level and tamp the soil before installing your landscaping fabric and gravel over it. You can even lay 2 to 3 inches of crushed stone before applying the fabric to create a more stable base for the top layer of gravel. Simple adjustments like these prove that whether you want a quick and easy install or a long-lasting defined dining area, there's a way to realize the ideal gravel pad for your backyard. Imagine the possibilities for a comfortable dining experience in your yard and garden, and plan this simple DIY today.