Paths

[tlck9]

Hi All

I took over a full allotment that had never been used before in October, and I need to place down some paths.

Since I have chickens I am up there in all weathers and at the moment large areas of the plot are just thick mud.

Can anyone suggest cheap ways to put in paths and more importantly how I can edge without too much cost

I am in in Cornwall, so slabs and stuff is not as cheap as other areas where there is alot of competition.

I suppose my big thing is if I use something like wood chips how do I keep these from going into dug beds etc again as cheaply as possible

[Hazel at the Hill]

I have pretty cheap paths at the Hill - wood chippings are free here to collect from the local park when they shred all the Christmas trees, and I've used those on weed supressant fabric (about 13 quid for a huge roll from Wilko last year) but I think that your paths will need edging with wood to stop the chippings spreading.

If you want slabs instead and you don't have a freecycle group near you, why don't you phone round the local landscape gardening companies & ask them to let you know when they are next replacing a patio locally - it'll save them a load of room in a skip if you take them away instead.

[binley100]

We put in paths around our beds laying down a thick base of wetted newspaper and covered it with bark chippings. Some beds just have an edging of planks of wood (recycled from skips etc) and I also used some of that roll out edging strip for lawns which Wilkinsons sell pretty cheap. We went to the lottie on Boxing Day and the original path up the middle which had been carefully constructed with bricks by a previous owner was like a skating rink. So be warned if using slabs etc.

[Hazel at the Hill]

Good point, Binley - I had cheap (black plastic) weed surpressant when I first laid out the paths, and it was lethally slippery when wet/muddey (i.e. nearly always).

[Two_Sheds]

I also used some of that roll out edging strip for lawns

Did you find that worked well? I had some (not from Wilko), and it disintegrated into a million sharp shards after one season (it wasn't UV stable: how useless is that for a product that spends its life outside )

[antonio]

Where i work they have 2 coal fired boilerS which produce lots of ash/clinker what the opinion on using that for paths
Cheers Tony

[glasgowdan]

I would suggest you edge with some old fence stakes as uprights and planks from pallets as the edging itself. I have done this with rubbles on the base of the paths, bark on top. EWven in icy conditions the surface texture of the bark is stable to walk on.

Mind you, just now with 3 inches of snow for the past 9 days which has been trodden down it has filled in all the cracks and formed a nice slippery surface! Not been above 0 degrees since last saturday

[Paul Sill]

There is a saw mill at Sutcombe, Sutcombe Sawmills Devon, Holsworthy Timber Sawmill, Bradworthy Timber, Devon wood sawmill supplies. A few years ago you could collect bark shavings. Did a good job of farm tracks for the cows.

[Jeanied]

Antonio to answer your post I remember my old neighbour had a clinker path the length of his vegetable plot - with raised beds either side in case the ash was too something or other (potash-y?) to make it a more hostile growing environment.

[Snadger]

Where i work they have 2 coal fired boilerS which produce lots of ash/clinker what the opinion on using that for paths
Cheers Tony

I have snow and ice covered paths at allotment just now. I remember my Mother used to put ash from the coal fire on the path outside our house as they never got salted. I spread the ash from my woodburner at the lottie on allotment paths (which are chippings underneath) and it is brill at stopping you slipping.
When the snows not there the wood ash goes around the fruit trees!

If you had a good supply you could always put it in a heap and let it weather for a while before using it!
As far as I know, at one time all paths were made with ash!

[tlck9]

I have tried (unsuccessfully) to find a piece of info on Paper mache paths for allotments, apparently it worked well, but I cannot remember where I read about it and how they did it.

I remember though they said it lasted around 2 years, before it started to disintegrate.

I wish I could remember where I saw it

[Snadger]

I have tried (unsuccessfully) to find a piece of info on Paper mache paths for allotments, apparently it worked well, but I cannot remember where I read about it and how they did it.

I remember though they said it lasted around 2 years, before it started to disintegrate.

I wish I could remember where I saw it

Actually sounds quite a good idea if the paper-mache was mixed with a waterproof glue and allowed to harden! You could even cast paving slabs 2 foot square and lay a paper mache path. Or was it dried then crumbled up?
A very green way of using up old newspapers I would say!

Just had a mental image of me mixing newspapers with glue in a wheel barrow then laying a path like concrete!

[Bigmallly]

When we moved to this house, I was lucky enough to have some prefab pieces over from when the garage was built (approx 2'x7'). They are perfect as they are pebbledashed so you don't slip.

[chriscross1966]

I freecycled all the slabs I've used on my allotment.... 40 metres+ end to end plus cross paths plus the service area around the shed at the far end....

chrisc

[miffy]

An old fella up our allotment has used old carpet tiles for his paths from an office building that were chucking them out, he also said he got some from the tip, he has used old wood to edge the path to keep the tiles down and slightly over lapped them, it looks neat and is good in all weathers.
I have cultivated the grass in between my raised beds into paths by trimming it over the last year and this has worked well.
I have also used wood chip on weed surpresent too and this stays put next to the raised beds.
My grandma also used ash on garden paths and that worked really well for her as i remember.
I have also got a friend who lives in a coastal area and she used crushed sea shells as a path, i know they found paths of sea shells at the Lost Gardens of Heligon in cornwall so you may be able to get a supply of those locally much cheaper than stone.