Garden diary · Looking back

The bark that became gravel

By Sarah · October 2026

This post has affiliate links to Travis Perkins. If you buy through them, I may earn a small amount, at no extra cost to you. I only link to things we actually bought.

This one goes back to the spring, when we were building the veg garden. I had a picture in my head of bark on the ground between the raised beds.

I thought it would be softer on my knees, and give that part of the garden more of a woodland feel.

We have gravel.

Two raised beds surrounded by an area of pale gravel, with lawn in front — Gravel round the beds instead of bark, 27 May

Two bulk bags too many

We'd bought gravel, and the Type 1 that goes underneath it, from Travis Perkins for the paths and for inside the greenhouse. We hired the digger and the whacker plate from them too.

Somewhere along the way the sums went wrong. Once the paths and the greenhouse were done, we had two bulk bags too many. Of the gravel and of the Type 1.

So instead of buying bark, we used what we had. It was easier.

A straight strip of lawn dug out down to the soil, leading to a greenhouse base, with a whacker plate beside it — The path to the greenhouse, dug out, 17 April

A path dug through the lawn in evening sun, with garden chairs and a hedge behind — Another path with the turf off, 25 April

A newly laid gravel path on black membrane, curving across the lawn — The first path goes down, 2 May

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How it turned out

Honestly? I'm still secretly wishing it was bark.

Even with two spare bags, there wasn't quite enough to cover the whole area, so there are some thin, bare patches. Meanwhile, we laid it far too thick on the paths. The plan is to scrape some off.

We've also seen a sort of stone glue that's meant to stop gravel moving around. I've no idea whether it actually works. If we try it, I'll let you know.

Gravel around raised beds, with black membrane showing at the edges — Membrane still showing at the edges, 29 May

Two raised beds with wooden mesh covers on a gravel area, with a field behind at sunset — Summer on the gravel, 10 July

A raised bed on gravel, with pots of chillies and tomatoes round its edge — One of the beds in September

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What I'd do differently

Work out how much you need before you order. Two bulk bags is a lot of spare gravel to find a home for.
Don't lay it thicker than you need. Thick gravel is harder to walk on, and it's much easier to add more than to scrape it back off.

What we used

Gravel: Gravel and Shingle Bulk Bag 10mm, Travis Perkins
Type 1 (the layer underneath): MOT Type 1 Sub Base Bulk Bag, Travis Perkins

If you missed it, the whole story of how this lawn became a veg garden is in my first diary post. From lawn to kitchen garden: our first year

I'm writing things like this down because I'd have forgotten half of it by next spring. That's why I'm making Remera, a garden journal app for the moments worth remembering.

Remera is coming in 2027.

Join the launch list

Sarah