Well, I really didn’t think it would take a year to finish off the upper driveway project, but here we are. Grass grows REALLY SLOWLY in deep shade. Just sayin’.
You may recall, many moons ago, that when we replaced the driveway, there was an area under our huge elm tree where we did not re-pour concrete. It has been a parking pad, and we still needed it, but wanted to minimize stress to the tree’s roots and opted instead for a permeable paver system. Not only does water drain down to the roots of the elm tree, we are maintaining a grassy spot underneath the tire swing – sort of. It turns to mud pretty quickly after the Halloween party, but at least it’s not a slab anymore.
We purchased our paver mats from Landscape Discount which was the least expensive option we could find. We noticed that one of our local parks used the same stuff in their parking area, but instead of seeding it, filled theirs with gravel, so there are other uses besides planting it as we did.
So as a refresher, here’s where we started.
First you level it out, and add gravel for drainage and additional leveling, then a layer of soil, the paver mats, more soil, then plant the grass seeds. A lot of shoveling, tamping and more shoveling. Good upper body work!
We are parking there now since there won’t be any more grass growing in this season. We will over seed again in the Spring to try and thicken up the area even more. While it was a lot of work, it is an inexpensive option for areas you want to protect from stormwater runoff or where you need extra parking without giving up green space.