Stone Gardens vs Grass Gardens

[Spitfire]

I just wanted to get the general opinion on this one as I've gone for the stone garden instead of grass.

Grass gardens are a nightmare imo to take care of and don't really work most of the time as the houses are built on that iron-rich red soil that is solid for building on as it doesn't subside much, but is a nightmare to grow anything in and you have to manipulate the soil to achieve this end.

The grass gardens I've seen people try are always failures as they all seem to want this European 'bowling green' style fine grass that is good for golf putting greens.....well, that takes some serious maintenance to bring into reality and maintain.

Many folks want these perfect grass gardens but fail to realise that it takes serious garden savvy to get a good grass garden here, unless you use the indigenous 'Spider' grass that is courser and more hardy in the sandy soil.

I've seen many failed gardens with this fine grass and so opted for a stone garden instead....glad I did so.

What are other folks experiences with this one?

My garden has ended up more like this......

[margaretcarnes]

That looks good and providing there are still spaces where rain water can soak away it seems a very practical solution. I do agree that the farang practice of trying to grow bowling green lawns in the LOS is pretty futile, and that going with the local sedge type of lawn is more sensible (when in Rome...) but I also have a problem with too much solid paved area, which floods, needs cleaning, and isn't environmentally friendly. Looks like you have struck a good balance.

[lomuamart]

I think there's another good reason not to plant grass, especially around the house.
I'm told that grass absorbs heat and then releases it at night whereas plants, shrubs and trees reflect heat.
If this is the case, it can make your house a couple of degrees cooler in the evenings. The person who told me this seems to know what he's talking about so I hope the above is pretty much correct.

[PeteC]

That's good. My place was all grass when we moved in, and now it's about half grass. All around the house are stone gardens or paving bricks as grass simply wouldn't grow as shade trees got bigger. You still need to weed though as things will sprout up anywhere and everywhere, even in the smallest of cracks between stones. Pete

[splitlid]

this is good program, if you can download, its well worth watching.
its from Australia so you may have to run it through google translate.
http://www.lifestyle.com.au/tv/dry-spell-gardening/

[SunandFun]

Nice Garden. Good to know about trees vs grass. Did not know that about the heat gain/release.

[STEVE G]

I've got a garden to fill at the moment and I'm thinking of going for the stone effect like Spitfire. I would like some large trees to provide shade and then cover the rest in shrubs, gravel and walkways.
Has anyone any experience of stopping weeds by putting plastic under the stones? I read somewhere that if you put pierced plastic sheeting underneath it will work but it would be interesting to hear from anyone who has tried it.

[Big Boy]

Has anyone any experience of stopping weeds by putting plastic under the stones? I read somewhere that if you put pierced plastic sheeting underneath it will work but it would be interesting to hear from anyone who has tried it.

Several neighbours here in the UK have done that, and it's very effective.

[STEVE G]

I think I'll go for that then as apparently you need quite a thickness of stones to stop weeds without anything under it. I used to have a garden in the UK and if it stops weeds there, it'll stop them anywhere!

[Spitfire]

The other option STEVE, which is what I did, is to put sand down on top of the soil and compact it right down solid, then put a plastic mesh down with the stones on top of it, worked a treat too on the weed front....nothing coming through at all.

Anywhere where you want to put plants then you have to did up the soil to a certain depth and replace it with the dark good quality stuff you buy in the white bags mixed with compost and cow shit etc. You can even put the shavings off the outside of coconut around a plant before the stones go down around it as that keeps the moisture in.

A lot of gardeners say the most important thing in any garden is preparing the land first before you do anything, whatever you choose to do.

[STEVE G]

What sort of plastic mesh did you use? I thought about using that black stuff that they use for shade and wind breaks in horticulture but I don't know if it's thick enough. I have a rai plot so I have to be a bit wary of the economics of the thing; apparently about 10cm of stones will stop weeds but that is a lot of gravel to do the sort of area that I need covered.

[Super Joe]

I just wanted to get the general opinion on this one as I've gone for the stone garden instead of grass.

Grass gardens are a nightmare imo to take care of and don't really work most of the time as the houses are built on that iron-rich red soil that is solid for building on as it doesn't subside much, but is a nightmare to grow anything in and you have to manipulate the soil to achieve this end.

I think you're doing the right thing in choosing stone over grass, that's the way my wife has done the last couple of houses we've worked on. Pics below. These weren't massive gardens though so stone best suited them anyway but nethertheless I think unless a garden is very large then you do not need grass to make it look 'green' with easy-to-maintain plants/trees etc.

If a really large garden then I'd probably have part lawned but it rarely gets used apart from by dogs and kids. We've gradually migrated over from mostly lawn to half/half, with the 'stone' areas being used constantly and the lawned part rarely. And after 7 years of 'cultivating' it, the grass area is still a bit of a mess with that 'large leafy' grass covering the areas where there's insufficient light or the dogs scratch around.

Well maintained grass looks prettier on the eye, but stone areas are far more practical, more often 'lived on' and eaisier to maintain imo.

Pics I mentioned...

4-Garden View2.jpg (66.14 KiB) Viewed 2339 times

H1_Gardens.JPG (124.16 KiB) Viewed 2339 times

SJ

[traveller2]

Nice gardens SJ. Maybe your wife could design gardens for other people? Im sure there might be a market for this?

[dtaai-maai]

SJ - in the 2nd pic, what is the little brown path to the bench made from? It looks like some kind of matting.

[Spitfire]

What sort of plastic mesh did you use?

It is the stuff used here by those who grow orchids and you can buy it in rolls from garden/plant shops for about 40-50 baht a meter of the stuff and it's a black colour.

Tesco sell it in their garden section usually but it's expensive (140 baht a meter), and it's green coloured, but if you're in there one time then can have peek at the stuff.

You're right about the sun/wind blocking stuff, I'd steer clear of that, not strong enough. If you use the sand and this mesh then you won't have to use so much thickness of stones on top.

I'll try and post a photo of the plastic mesh and an area along the wall at my gaff where I've used it but it'll have to wait as it's pissing it down with rain where I am as of time of this post.