Gravel is often laid to make a path, walkway, or driveway. It can also be laid decoratively to create some variety in your garden or installed to make a foundation for a free-standing shed.
You can visually estimate what 4–6 inches (10–15 cm) looks like, or you can use a measuring tape to measure how deep you’ve gone.
You can use a flat edge of your spade to shift the soil around if you prefer. It doesn’t really matter how you do this.
A hand tamper is a large pole with a flat, metal plate at the bottom. It is used to compress soil and stone so that it doesn’t shift around. You cannot use an electric plate compactor for this particular step unless you’re compacting hard clay.
You can use sand instead of crushed stone if you live in a tropical environment where it rains a lot and gets extremely hot. Crushed stone comes in a variety of different forms. Limestone, granite, and marble chips will all work for this process. It doesn’t really matter since you’re only using it as a base. For example, if your pit is 6 by 8 feet (1. 8 by 2. 4 m), multiply 6 ft (1. 8 m) by 8 ft (2. 4 m) to get 48 sq ft (4. 5 m2). Double this number to get 96 sq ft (8. 9 m2). You can use an online calculator to determine how much stone you need. You can find one of these calculators at http://fredburrows. com/index. php/calculator/.
You can always remove excess stone with a shovel or pour more crushed stone into the pit, so don’t worry if you don’t get it perfectly right the first time.
Do your best to keep the stone level around the edges of the pit. [9] X Expert Source Alberto DeJesusConstruction Specialist Expert Interview. 15 December 2021. Don’t worry if there are a few elevated stones around the edges, though.
If you don’t have a hose nearby, you can fill a watering can with water and pour the water over the stone. Refill the can as needed until you’ve completely soaked your stones. Too much water is better than too little. You won’t harm anything by getting the pit wet.
Landscaping fabric is sold in bundles based on the square footage (or square meters) of an area. Use the area of your pit to determine how much landscaping fabric you need.
Use bricks or lengths of wood to hold the landscaping fabric in place if it’s a little windy.
If some of the fabric sticks out past the sides of your pit, use scissors, shears, or a utility knife to trim the excess fabric off.
You can use any heavy item to weigh the fabric down so long as it doesn’t tear the fabric.
This step is optional if you live in an area that doesn’t experience a ton of harsh weather or heavy wind. Don’t worry about the overlapping seams coming up. The weight of the gravel will keep them in place. You can use spikes or pins to keep them in place if you’d like to play it safe, though.
Alternatively, you can place heavy stones along the edges of the soil around your pit. This is optional. Some people don’t install a border because they like the look of gravel transitioning into the grass.
Gravel typically costs around $5. 00 per square foot ($16. 00 per square meter). The label on a bag of gravel lists the square footage (or square meters) that it will cover. Multiply the length and width of your pit and then double this number to figure out how many bags of gravel you need.
You can buy a gravel grid online or from a landscaping company.
Don’t worry if you don’t add the perfect amount of gravel at first. You can always pour more or shovel excess gravel out of the pit. If you installed a plastic border, leave the 2 inches (5. 1 cm) at the top of the border unfilled.
Rake your gravel once every 6-12 months as the stones shift around and build up into small mounds. Do not use the tines of your rake to distribute the gravel. You may accidentally puncture and pull up the landscaping fabric if you do.
