Gravel+Slate = OUCH!

The latest Fine Gardening Magazine arrived and I jumped on it, as always. The story about paths and pavers grabbed my attention because I've been looking for good-looking, low-cost materials to recommend.  First, I finally learned what "Crab Orchard" is - the landscapers on HGTV swear by it - it's a type of sandstone, cheaper and easier to cut than, say, granite.  And I appreciate the good cost information about choices in paving materials, which range from 25 cents a square foot for gravel to $20 for that super-hard granite.  Composites like concrete and aggregate can be super-cheaper, too - as little as $1/sf.  As a fan of concrete pavers myself, I'll second the notion that they're worth a try and homemade, they cost about 50 cents each.  That's not counting the cost of the really cool things you can put in them - like marbles and tiles and real leaf impressions.  Hey, I think I'll throw a paver-making party as soon as it's warm enough to make a mess outdoors.  Wanna come?

Now I don't want to forget to tell you my gravel+slate story - the OUCH.  See how nice they look together in the cover story above?  Fine, just don't try walking barefoot on that combo because little rocks find their way on top of the hard, hard slate and DO NOT SINK IN when stepped on, and hurt like hell.  Seriously - don't try it at home.  I've seen this dangerous combination recommended a zillion times and it makes me wonder:  Am I the only barefoot gardener left??  Maybe it's just us Southerners, but I've gotta have that full garden experience of feet-on-grass and feet-on-dirt. Gardeners, am I alone?

Moving on, these are my other faves in the February issue:

• How to prune Japanese maples.  If you're a pruning geek like me, you'll love this article, with good illustrations and this quote: "The wise gardener learns to appreciate plants for their own attributes and remembers that a good pruner can only reveal beauty, not create it."  Damn right.

• A new pruning saw I absolutely MUST HAVE because it's so sharp it cuts "like a hot knife through butter".  The Product Review Department features the Silky Pocketboy 130, reportedly well worth the $26 it costs.  It's available here.

• A really cool article+photo spread about using straight lines and perfect geometric shapes in  lush, modern ways - very Pacific Northwest and gorgeous.

• Stephanie Cohen has gotta be the cutest garden writer on the planet - it's that smile, so big it makes her eyes disappear.  And it's not for nothing that she's called the High Priestess of Perennials, judging by the quality of her perennial update in this issue of FG.

Comments

[Pam L]

You are not the only barefoot gardener. My feet need a real scrubbing every night from April to October. We have a gravel path on top of our retaining wall between the wall and the hill that goes up from there to the fence. For this path we put in many yards of "breeze" the stuff that is supposed to pack down like decomposed granite but the mix we got has more and larger gravel/ pebbles in it than the crushed material that is supposed to harden down when wet and tamped so you cannot walk on it barefoot. Luckily, the 12" caps we used on top of the wall allow me to make it across there barefoot or I'd be bummed. I am perusing seed and plant sites online planning my next additions. At 7 snow storms and approaching 50 days of continuous snow on the ground I am SO ready for Spring.

[Annie in Austin]

Barefoot gardening is not for sissy old me - but my husband likes to walk around barefoot. Although we like decomposed granite for some uses, it's pretty painful to walk on, so we've limited its use as a component in paths.

I don't know what could be comfortable to step on in summer - even a wooden deck gets hot enough to scorch your feet.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

[Pam L]

Speaking of heat, even though it's currently 22 degrees, our back yard is so hot in the summer and will be until our trees grow more, that we finally broke down and bought a retractable awning for the patio. Perfect for our climate where you still want the sun coming in during winter but need some relief when it's 103 outside. I can't wait! It's going to be a good year.

[jenn]

"paver-making party " Hell, yeah, I'd love to. Bit far for a commute, though. Maybe we can do a virtual party?

And I'm a barefooter, too.

[kim (blackswamp_girl)]

Another barefooter here... although I do keep sandals around for walking into my house via the cement driveway. Talk about OUCH on a sunny August day!

[Carol]

Does garden clogs with no socks count as barefoot? Then, count me in. And I'm all for a paver-making party, even virtual. (Great idea, Jenn)

[Dixie_Amazon]

Gardening clogs should count, I still have to scrub my feet.

[Tracy]

No more barefoot gardening for me after two tetanus scares. Both were rusty nails found by the soles of my feet as I was digging up new garden beds. Of course, both were just about 10 years apart and I couldn't remember exactly when my last tetanus shot was - at least it's a motivator to keep updated. I get as close as possible by using garden clogs that I can slip off when I finish gardening and just want to walk around the yard.

I actually put gravel in my vegetable garden paths, and I really love it. Here in Minnesota, it absorbs extra heat in the spring and fall and really does extend the season by a week or two on either end. However, going barefoot there is just not an option.

[ginger]

What's better than barefoot? It marks the start of 'the season' here!

[Pam]

I miss barefoot gardening - something I could do when I lived in Michigan. But down here, in the south - the ocassional fire ant mound and the fact that I have several dogs roaming my garden (that do activities other than roaming!) keep me with my shoes on. But I do miss it.

[susan harris]

Man, you guys ARE tough. Even I don't usually work in the garden barefoot - that's what my many pairs of clogs are for. I just like walking around the garden barefoot, usually with coffee mug in hand.

[JLB]

You most certainly are not alone Susan. One of my favorite pleasures of gardening is the feel of my feet on earth, mud, puddles, stones, and plants!

[girlgonegardening]

The only time I DON'T barefoot garden is when I have to use a spade with my feet. Then I have a nice pair of sandles and sometimes flip flops for that kind of job. Other then that, its barefoot all the time!
I really HATE shoes. My neighbors make fun of me, call me hillbilly (jokingly) when I walk out to my mail box in barefeet every time (except when snow is covering the pavement or its -5*). shoes are something i HAVE to put on when I go to work or attend weddings....

[Kathy Jentz, Washington Gardener]

>Gardening clogs should count, I still have to scrub my feet.<

Ditto for me - and for the paver party - and I'm WALKING distance to Susan's place! Jealous much ;-)

Well, I'm a barefoot as much as possible, but the a-holes who drive by my busy corner regularly chuck out 40s, champagne bottles, juice drinks, etc. that crash on the sidewalk and scatter broken glass shards everywhere - and they tend to creep far best any spray range you'd have thought possible. Children and dogs by the dozens traverse my sidewalk daily in ignorant bliss of this potential haazrd. It is crying shame that some folks have no respect for property or safety and we must share the world with them - it is just sickening.

[kim (blackswamp_girl)]

While reading GGG's post... I realized that I probably should admit here that I have driven a shovel into the ground with my bare feet once or twice. But then, I have sandy soil here--it's not too bad once you get the tip through the grass! *grin*

[donna]

I would love to garden barefoot - but with three dogs, I kind of like keeping my shoes on....

[chuck b.]

What about the yucca/rubiginosa combo on the back cover? I love it.

[chuck b.]

Also, what do you think of the Supamoss on page 50-51. Too gimmicky? I'm intrigued.

[Pam/Digging]

Well, Susan, I let my subscription lapse, but after your post I may have to re-up it. Are they paying you for the publicity? ;-)

[Pam/Digging]

I just previewed the spread you mentioned on using geometric shapes in the garden. I've seen that garden featured elsewhere. It IS very striking. But what's interesting to me is that the couple who created it got their design start here in Austin at Gardens, a nursery and design firm founded by James David and Gary Peese. I saw their personal garden last fall on the Open Days Austin tour and gave a photo tour on my blog: http://penick.dnsalias.net:58089/digging/?p=155. Their influence can definitely be seen in the Pacific NW garden featured in this month's Fine Gardening Magazine.

[susan harris]

Pam, thanks for that amazing tour.
Yes, FG should be paying me.
And Supamass is sounds interesting to me, too. Hey - try it and blog about it. S

[Yolanda Elizabet]

Concrete pavers and gravel = ouchie too. I know it, my cats know it. So I mostly stay on the grass if I'm barefoot, my cats avoid the gravel like the proverbial plague. ;-)

[Annie in Austin]

Well, Susan, now you know how to get 23 comments - take off your shoes.

Is there some deep psychological reason or does it just mean that everyone's feet hurt?

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

[Barefoot in Pa]

I have three big dogs in my back yard, glass chards from thoughtless fools in my front yard, and still I am committed to a barefoot lifestyle. I am about to install a winding pathway in my back yard. Other than cedar mulch, can anyone recommend a foot friendly material for my new garden path?