Gravel over concrete?

[ItsABrandNewDay]

Has anyone ever tried laying gravel over a concrete patio/yard sort of area? Did it work?

Don't do it! It's a terrible feeling to walk on gravel over concrete. My friend did this in her garden on the patio and i can't bear it. It's akin to chewing tin foil.

We did it. Had depressing dark grey slabs and put down a membrane (to stop weeds) and lay gravel and it looks much better. Not sure what the pp is talking about tbh. I haven't noticed any terrible noise or feeling or whatever though I'm not usually sensitive to stuff like that.

Maybe it comes down to the size and type of gravel 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thank you!

I've got a concrete yard that I'm wanting to cover up but I'm not sure how. Gravel seems to be sounding like a no go from Google 😔

We had gravel/stones in a rental, I was sick to death of bits of it coming in the house all the time. Was a big relief when we moved to no longer have to deal with it.

I'd say if you are going to go for it to just make sure the pieces aren't too small.

Maybe an outdoor rug instead? Or raised beds. Gravel can become a bit cat litter.

Ha, with hindsight i probably overreacted, but i really really do hate going into friends garden now!

Gravel provides a marvellous bed for weeds to .And it spreads everywhere .
Could you put some large planters to distract from the concrete ?
I have a couple with pieris and one with convolvulus

I have gravel over a concrete path to my front door. It’s fine. However, the trick is not to have a very thick layer as then you are wading through it and it’s really uncomfortable to walk on (my rear patio was like this when I moved in and the gravel had to go there. You might end up with bare patches if you lay it thinly, so keep a bag for top ups. You will also need edging to contain it in some way from areas where you don’t want it.

Size and type matter too, some go green really easily.

I did this in my old house. It was a yard area rather than a patio, so we didn't use it for sitting on. It was a small area outside my back door,m with ugly concrete, contained by a wall with steps leading up to the garden. It worked really well. I did put a couple of stepping stones down to avoid having to walk on the gravel when I didn't have any shoes on, but I can't say I noticed the feeling a PP is describing in her friend's garden whenever o did walk on it.

You need to lay down a honeycomb grid, this will keep the gravel in place and stop it from moving around and clumping in places.

We did this down the side of our house as we had a very unattractive slab on concrete that we wanted to hide. We laid a gravel grid membrane before adding the gravel.

It has been almost a year and we haven't had any problems with weeds however have had some green moss/lichen attempting to grow as it is in a shady area but this has been cured with patio magic.

I’m not a fan of pea gravel to be honest, which I think looks the nicest, we have it on our drive, it gets stuck in the grooves on the soles of your shoes and ends up in the car. I’d assume it will be the same for your house. It will look better but you will have gravel being dragged into the house. Large gravel uou won’t have this issue but it’s not as nice.

I also don’t get the pps issue with the sound of feel of it.

If you do it I think it's best to add some stepping stones through the gravel.

I think gravel over concrete will be better for weed control as the concrete acts as a weed barrier anyway. What I found with gravel in our last house was that dust and dirt did collect on it and formed a sort of dirt layer under the gravel and above our anti-weed membrane, so weeds did grow eventually. It was easy to pull them up though.

As a side issue, if you have any visitors in a wheelchair, gravel is a major pain to wheel a chair through. It is very annoying going to a place that claims to be accessible only to find gravel paths that bog the wheelchair down.

Have you considered painting the concrete or stencilling a pattern onto it?

I agree with others that small gravel could be annoying. Ours is larger gravel, called Cottage Cream by Kelkay. It doesn't get stuck in shoes or feel like you're walking through sand. I use it on my garden paths and also on the patio.

Small gravel is very like cat litter.

We put stones over concrete 20 years ago & it has been fine.
Significantly, we have angular chippings (don't know correct term) NOT rounded gravel. Were told this would move less and avoid that sea-sick feel.
Our stones are 8" deep at one end and one stone thick at the other. This has created a level garden instead of the concrete slope.

Lots of pots on the gravel. Every couple of years I sieve all the gravel to remove soil that has washed from the pots (Yes- all 2 tonnes of it). This means that weeds are non-existant.

On frosty days it does feel a bit firmer to walk over

Have you considered slate chippings? Probably best to put down a membrane first and the honeycomb idea sounds good if you want to be belt and braces. Make sure you put a barrier / small retainer, if at the front of the house, at the end so they don't all migrate into the road if you're driving on them.
They can look lovely.
https://decorativeaggregates.com/blog/the-ultimate-guide-to-slate-chippings

It is a good cheap and quick way to cover concrete. We have done it a few times. You will get a few weeds coming through that you will need to keep on top of.

Sorry to tag onto existing thread and question, but do you think slate would work over tarmac?
have a large area to cover to turn into a low maintenance patio garden. Already have huge flower pots and trugs but no budget to pave it

Thanks ever so much everyone! You've persuaded me to give it a try.

It won't be the entire yard that's covered so wheelchair access, while not a worry at this point, wouldn't be an issue in future.

You can start your own thread go to the top and it says “start new thread “.

No need to start your own thread IMO as the answers here will be relevant to you.

I don't see any problem with putting slate over tarmac. Though I'd put down some sort membrane/honeycomb underlay first otherwise I'd imagine the flat slates will slip all over the place.

I've got a gravel driveway that goes around the side of my house, that's on top of tarmac, as it needs to take the weight of cars. Get larger stones, 40mm ish and there's zero issues with it coming in the house with you. One of the best aspects of gravel is its an excellent deterrent for burglars and you can hear people coming. I also think gravel looks good.