Lottie paths.

[bobbin]

last year the problem of little path areas between my veg drove me mad! I hate simply squashing earth as I tread yet bark etc seems messy.Carpet may leach toxins and I cannot afford much walking area as my lottie is quite small.I just can't get to grips with this one. I guess raised beds would be better but probably too late now.Also what does everyone use to top up soil level when making raised beds?

[FionaH]

My beds will be raised over the next couple of years with home made compost, horse muck and multi purpose as and when

[zazen999]

What Fi said....we put weed fabric down on the first day after getting our lottie and only ever walk on that. The beds are slowly being raised and sided as we obtain wood for free.

[snakeshack]

i'm using any thing as it apears ,horse/cow manure,compost cardboard & grass mulch.
You dont need to fill the beds straight away the level will rise gradually over time

[Pumpkin Becki]

In last months issue of GYO, Paul Wagland was making paths out of folded newspaper, looked quite ingenious. Whether they would work on beds that don't have wooden sides i don't know, you might have to find a way to secure it.

[rana]

Weed mat sounds good to me for paths. As for raised beds in an allotment, unless there is a physical reason I can't see the point. Most allotments will have been worked for many years (perhaps decades) and will have an enviable depth of fine soil with superb crumb structure.
I was helping a friend plant some bushes on her plot last week (it was a weed covered jungle a year ago) and digging 2' down still didn't reach any compacted sub soil, yet neighbouring plots (presumably with similar soil) had invested in raised-beds ......WHY???

[Two_Sheds]

I made my paths out of wet layers of newspaper, topped with bark (in 2005). I just top up the bark every year. It works really well and doesn't scatter as much as you would expect.

[jackie j]

When I get around to putting edging down for a path I will use bark for the paths which I can get for free. Someone else on our site has used duck boards ( home made ).

[chell25]

I have raised beds, and plan when i get the chance to put wood chip down as there is a pile on site that is free.

I have raised beds as the soil on my plot has a lot of clay, so i filled the beds up with a mix of compost and top soil.

Chell

[bobbin]

lottie paths

Thanks all you are a helpful bunch.Should anyone else have any ideas for paths please let me know. I will give the raised beds a miss for now.Though did do 3 beds years ago in my garden and they sure are easy to maintain.

[Gwyndy]

I have grass paths between by allotment beds - high maintenance but they look good. We get occasional deliveries of wood chip to our allotment site (free of charge from tree 'surgeons') and many people use this on top of weed control fabric.

I don't see any point in raised beds unless your soil is totally unusable or you have mobility problems. I have three small raised beds but only where the ground is almost 100% rubble.

[MrsC]

Hi, at the moment I am using some free compost bags (75 ltrs) from a local farm shop cut and fold over (black side up) weighted down with bricks as paths. I hope to replace these over time with timber or brick/stone