Path advice.

[noviceveggrower]

Hi,
Just been down allotment and its very boggy. I have a grass path half way through the allotment and one going from the bottom to the top of the plot to the shed and decking area.
Was just wondering about putting a more well solid path down. My plot is at the bottom of a slope so get all the rain and excess water off all the other plots.
So I was wondering what could you suggest for the path area. I haven't been able to cut the grass since late September as its been to wet down there or OH been working and I can't lift the lawn mower into the car.
So if I replaced the grass what would you guys suggest would be the best alternative?
Thanks

[muddled]

I'm making paths at my plot this winter.
I'm scraping off the topsoil layer. Some of this has already been under plastic for months so in those places it's easy...just shovel off a few inches and bung it on the beds. The top soil is replaced with a thick layer of woodchips.
Some places there is still grass on it. These bits I'm slicing off the grass and roots and leaving them to compost in a heap covered with black plastic. Again, the path is covered with wood chips.

Some areas though, still have couch grass on.
Blimmin hard work to shovel and the rhizomes go pretty far down. So these areas will be covered with plastic and woodchips over the top. The woodchips prevent uv damage from making the plastic brittle.

Woodchips are my favourite path surface material.
Soft to kneel on when tending beds; excess water drains through it instead of running off it; it eventually composts down to a wonderful mulching material. Looks good too.
Best of all.....it's usually free....tree surgeons are desperate to get rid of the stuff!

[sparrow100]

Hi there,

I've been battling with the same thing this weekend. Part of my main path was/is 3-4inches deep in sloshy mud and quite slidey.

I pulled all the surface growth off the path, levelled as best I could (it was quite lumpy) and put down thick card covered with woodchip. The cardboard I hope will help suppress the weeds and the woodchip will also absorb some of the water. It's made an enormous difference and took about 4 hours to do a length of about 10 metres. I'm a slow worker...

I do wish I'd added a couple of barrows of woodchip to the squidgy area before putting the card on top, but hopefully it will settle ok - that part still feels a bit like walking on an airbed...

[noviceveggrower]

Can I ask you both where you managed to get your wood chip from?

[sparrow100]

My site has an arrangement with local tree surgeons and we get deliveries throughout the year. Some of the local guys are now selling the woodchip to bio-fuel places so we might not always have it.

[Potstubsdustbins]

If your at the bottom of a slope with run off from the other plots would this not wash away/float off wood chips?

[Aberdeenplotter]

I have concrete slabs down the middle of my sloping plot. I also have similar paths into my compost bins. tunnel doors, greenhouse, shed and raised beds. It saves such a lot of time hoeing paths and of course I have clean footing all the way through.

[muddled]

We get our chips delivered by local tree surgeons too.
Luckily for me this was arranged by the lottie sec but I reckon a quick ring round via the yellow pages should turn up a source.

And as for washing them away, whole sections of my site were submerged beneath standing water last week but those plots with chips were fine. Honest, they are like a sponge! They hold an amazing amount and seem to stay in place really well, especially when wet.

I like the idea of concrete slabs as well but don't have free access to those.

[Kristen]

... and of course I have clean footing all the way through.

For me this would be key.

I'm on heavy soil, and I have raised beds (but only by 4" or so). Soil gets dropped onto the path one way or another. My boots are muddy in winter. Wood chip / gravel and the like all pick up and get "weakened" by small quantities of soil dropping onto the path. Perhaps I'm way more messy than the average person though?

I have grass on mine. I don't mow it often, "shaggy" suits me well, particularly in winter as it provides some extra cushioning before it can turn to a mud bath. Hard paving would be better and whilst I have a couple of slabs outside the greenhouse door and in high traffic areas like the gate I haven't got around to laying slabs more widely (and I don't think I need them).

Maybe my paths get less traffic than would be normal though? and some of mine are soggy now, given how wet the Autumn has been.

[sparrow100]

And as for washing them away, whole sections of my site were submerged beneath standing water last week but those plots with chips were fine. Honest, they are like a sponge! They hold an amazing amount and seem to stay in place really well, especially when wet.

I like the idea of concrete slabs as well but don't have free access to those.

Same here Muddled. The chips are brilliant for holding on to water. I might put a duckboard on top of the dicey bit, but otherwise that's that bit sorted. I don't find they scatter about when they are settled, so my boots stay clean.

I'd rather avoid slabs - the ones on our site are slippy when wet and then icy in winter. I'm too clumsy to not come a cropper...!

[Kristen]

I don't find they scatter about when they are settled, so my boots stay clean.

The problem I have is if (neigh, "when"!!) my boots get muddy, they then pick up gravel and any other small coating materials from the paths. I figure that the grass works reasonable well to remove any clods from my boots, and then "absorb" it over time. Obviously doesn't work if the amount of muck on the rough grass is too great.

Having said that I have a boot scraper (Cast iron, a few quid off eBay) on the raised bed nearest the gate, so that I can get the majority off before I then walk on the paths back towards the house.

[noviceveggrower]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I wouldn't mind a slab path but it's mainly down to cost and we have a public footpath through our allotment site. Also I am right by the gate so they could get lifted by anyone at anytime.
Think I might go to a saw mill by where my mom and dad use to live and see if I can get some off them. I don't know what they do with their loose chippings so I'll go and see them. No harm in asking

[Scarlet]

I have wood chip paths, I put membrane down after clearing the weeds/grass. A few years on, I really wish I hadn't. The weeds just grow in the woodchip that breaks down. It needs shovelling up and redoing I'm not too good on the shovel. Personally I think grass paths are easier to maintain. I'd go for slabs if I could lay them myself.

[alldigging]

The weed fabric is the problem with bark paths. Just bark is easy to clear when it's rotted down, weds come up easy. If there's fabric though the roots seem to cling to it like mad and it's impossible to dig or pull them out.

[Martin H]

You can put old newspapers on the ground before putting the chips down, to stop weeds growing for a season. It's much easier to manage than that fabric stuff and it all composts if you need to move or re-do the paths.