Pea gravel is a popular surface treatment for patios, parks, and city gathering spots in Europe. Mary Jane Duford is a gardening expert and founder of Home for the Harvest. She's also an engineer and certified permaculture garden designer.
Standard bulk pea gravel generally costs about $50 per cubic yard when purchased in bulk at a landscape supplier. Pea gravel sold at a garden centre is generally more expensive – up to $100 per cubic yard – but there are more choices available. Garden centres may stock pea gravel of varying sizes and colours to suit your landscape design.
What is Pea Gravel Used For?
Pea gravel does have a tendency to stray from its original position. It really does need some kind of edging to keep it in place if it runs alongside a lawn. Weed trimmers and lawnmowers can toss stray pea gravel . I ordered 3 rolls of this wire mesh from Lowes online, and picked it up curbside.
The colour of the pea gravel depends on the colour of the parent rock material. If you’re buying a yard or two of pea gravel, it generally needs to be transported in a heavy-duty utility trailer. You may also be able to buy a more-easily transported 5-gallon bucket of about $15 bucks worth of gravel. An average 0.5 cubic foot bag of pea gravel costs about $5 per bag.
Pea Gravel from Home Depot
Pea gravel is generally a low-maintenance, inexpensive, well-draining surface choice. Pea gravel looks as at home around modern architecture as it does in cottage gardens. All it needs is a quick rake now and then to keep the stones in place. This raspberry garden has paths mulched with pea gravel to keep down weeds and discourage enthusiastic raspberry canes from growing outside their planter box.
Pea gravel generally still looks dusty after initial placement. Spray it with the garden hose or wait for some rain to let the true colour of the rock shine though. Once the initial dust has settled down between the rocks, the pea gravel will generally stay quite acceptable just with rainwater washing it off.
Pea Gravel Patio
It was fine though because remember we wanted to enjoy ourselves. I think it took us about 5 hours, with me measuring and marking (and double-checking myself), and the hubs making the cuts. Honestly, this part took longer than I thought it would. We spent the first day of our project doing all the cutting. I wouldn’t have wanted to do that during normal life, let alone. Getting everything we needed would have required us to visit all three stores, gathering some of the pieces at each one.
You may wish to give the pile a bit of a rinse to get some of the dust off before placing it. This will also help you get a good idea what the gravel looks like . Gravel is an inexpensive driveway hardscaping material. Despite all your efforts to keep the pea gravel in place, some of it will sink, stray, or get permanently borrowed.
Pea Gravel Mulch
Garden design includes pea gravel surfaces in many different styles of gardens. It’s generally used as a surface covering in areas where weeds are to be discouraged or where foot traffic is expected. As above, pea gravel on garden paths and access areas does require a structural support base layer of compacted crushed rock.
Pea gravel paths are a classic landscape design feature. They can be designed of pea gravel alone or with pea gravel between pavers or flagstones. Like the patio described above, pea gravel paths require a structural base layer of compacted crushed rock.
A touch-up with fresh pea gravel every few years will keep things uniform and looking sharp. While you can rake it in with the previous batch, its always easier just to get the same type. Pea gravel is generally quite dusty at the landscape supply store and when it is first placed. It will look much better after water washes off some of the dust.
The last thing we wanted was to go to all the trouble of building this well-fortified garden with a fence, only to have some little guys tunnel up from the bottom! And since this is definitely one of those things you can’t go back and add later, we decided “better safe than sorry”. And we definitely have seen several voles and their trails. I haven’t seen any moles, but in the far back part of our property, I do notice several holes where something tunnels.
While pea gravel is highly ornamental and smooth to walk on, it doesn’t provide the same structural support as a properly prepared base of compacted crushed stone. Just imagine your wheelbarrow sinking down into a pile of marbles. Pea gravel performs best when its used either between structural paving stones or on top of a properly-compacted base. Pea gravel is used in landscaping as a hardscaping surface material for well-travelled areas like patios, walkways, and playgrounds.
It can also be used as a decorative mulch around plants or structures like raised beds. Even foot traffic can displace pea gravel eventually, leading to some landscapers using stepping stones in addition to the pea gravel itself. And if you live in a snowy area, be prepared to clean up the stray gravel each spring. You may also need a fresh batch every couple years to keep things in tip top shape. What makes pea gravel so different then other types of gravel is that each stone is smooth and rounded . Pea gravel is collected from nature in an area where flowing water once gently rounded each stone.
The natural weathering process of the stream bed creates a smooth texture that is lovely to walk on. It can be a mass mulch in a Xeriscape garden or can be used around single specimen trees or other ornamental purposes. You can even use pea gravel as a mulch in flower gardens – particularly perennial flower gardens with native plants in areas with hot summers. The gravel mulch will help stabilize the soil temperature and hold water in the soil when things get really dry. Also referred to as pea stone or pea pebbles, each little rock of pea gravel is just a bit bigger than a pea . Pea gravel perhaps looks more like really large peas, like edamame or something of that size.
