ᐅ Creating a Gravel Garden Bed Yourself When There Is No Basement?
Created on: 20 Jun 2017 18:50
I
infors
Hello.
I have read a lot in the forum about creating a gravel bed. This is supposed to serve as splash protection. We also find it visually appealing. In the forum, I have seen many things about minimum depth and other aspects to consider. I am not sure if you have to pay attention to the minimum depth and so on when you don’t have a basement. We will definitely build without a basement. Can’t you simply remove the topsoil around the house by a few centimeters (maybe about 10cm (4 inches), or enough height to place an edging stone) and then fill this area with gravel? Removing that much soil should be enough to spread some gravel over the exposed spots. This way, you get the aesthetic effect we like, and it should also serve as splash protection. I am just a complete layperson, but from my feeling, I don’t understand why you would need to dig so deep, especially if building without a basement. A drainage system is not necessary for us either. That might be the only reasonable reason for excavating the often mentioned 80cm (31 inches).
What do you think about this? Is deep excavation not necessary if you build without a basement and consider drainage unnecessary?
Kind regards
I have read a lot in the forum about creating a gravel bed. This is supposed to serve as splash protection. We also find it visually appealing. In the forum, I have seen many things about minimum depth and other aspects to consider. I am not sure if you have to pay attention to the minimum depth and so on when you don’t have a basement. We will definitely build without a basement. Can’t you simply remove the topsoil around the house by a few centimeters (maybe about 10cm (4 inches), or enough height to place an edging stone) and then fill this area with gravel? Removing that much soil should be enough to spread some gravel over the exposed spots. This way, you get the aesthetic effect we like, and it should also serve as splash protection. I am just a complete layperson, but from my feeling, I don’t understand why you would need to dig so deep, especially if building without a basement. A drainage system is not necessary for us either. That might be the only reasonable reason for excavating the often mentioned 80cm (31 inches).
What do you think about this? Is deep excavation not necessary if you build without a basement and consider drainage unnecessary?
Kind regards
As far as I understand, the 80cm (31.5 inches) depth is recommended to ensure infiltration can safely reach below the frost line. Otherwise, it could freeze in winter, which would block further drainage and potentially cause damage. However, I’m not sure how relevant this is in practical terms. You are definitely not the first person to question this.