I want to have an area that will be filled with gravel, 3 to 4 inches deep, path through the area will be stone or concrete.

Looking for ideas to prepare the base for the gravel so it doesn't slowly disappear into the soil. Will have very little traffic on it, not even the dogs.

Any good suggestions ?

Ideally you have a compacted sub-base of something like crushed sandstone/concrete mix (or a concrete base if within budget) with an slight incline ( or sub-surface drains ) to a drainage point ( prefably a gully trap ). U do not need the gully to be open with a grill as this will fill up with the gravel being kicked into it but if you do not have drainage it will be a pond everytime it rains and it will you will have run-off lines to the lowest point.(means raking after every rain) . To sumarise , take the water down ,not across if you want to avoid constant headaches .

If u do not want to go to that extent then purchase some geo-tech material that is suitable for both the parent soil and the gravel size you are using . There are many types of geotech but essentially it acts as both a filter for drainage and to prevent erosion,and to keep the materials from mixing which is what you want . I am not to certian where you can buy in your area but if you cant find then perhaps some shade cloth carefully laid on compacted sub base may work for x amount of years. Black Plastic , altho the cheapest and easiest method and contary to what others may say, is usually never succesful for long in my experience .

Hope that is of some help.

Ideally you have a compacted sub-base of something like crushed sandstone/concrete mix (or a concrete base if within budget) with an slight incline ( or sub-surface drains ) to a drainage point ( prefably a gully trap ). U do not need the gully to be open with a grill as this will fill up with the gravel being kicked into it but if you do not have drainage it will be a pond everytime it rains and it will you will have run-off lines to the lowest point.(means raking after every rain) . To sumarise , take the water down ,not across if you want to avoid constant headaches .

If u do not want to go to that extent then purchase some geo-tech material that is suitable for both the parent soil and the gravel size you are using . There are many types of geotech but essentially it acts as both a filter for drainage and to prevent erosion,and to keep the materials from mixing which is what you want . I am not to certian where you can buy in your area but if you cant find then perhaps some shade cloth carefully laid on compacted sub base may work for x amount of years. Black Plastic , altho the cheapest and easiest method and contary to what others may say, is usually never succesful for long in my experience .

Hope that is of some help.

Geotech is probably the best bet. the gravel will have a two to three inch retaining wall all around and the area has it's own slope so will probably set some plastic pipes in the lowest wall to help drainage.

Cheers

^{A guy in the village did this in part of his garden, a neighbor got the most benifit using the path as a source of stones to use in his cataput.}

would this be better in the DIY housing section?

bina