Gravel driveway with gardens

Now that the deck project is winding down I've been re-tasked by m'lady to put in a gravel driveway and "make it look nice." I've been waiting for the weather to improve but we've had almost constant rain/drizzle since Christmas. Tomorrow should give some respite. I've called on friends with earthmoving equipment to lend a hand, so we should smash through this in a weekend (famous last words?).

First hurdle was sourcing some concrete pipes to allow drainage at the footpath. Hohl plumbing supplies at Beaudesert had some quality seconds in stock and i picked up two pipes for $115.

Just down the road from them is Enrights timber mill. They had a great range and were a couple of bucks cheaper per metre than the other places i've been to. I bought 150m of 200x50 treated hardwood sleepers, 200m 100x50 treated pine, 70m 100x75 treated hardwood posts and two 2.4m 175 pine rounds all for $2700.

I've hired an upright compactor from Kennards. Was going to use a plate compactor but i heard the upright would be better suited for packing the roadbase around the pipes.

The last call of the day was to Nuway at Logan. Although they're not the cheapest, they were one of the only landscape suppliers that can deliver in the quantities i need on short notice. Most other places don't have enough drivers at the moment. I've ordered 5 cubes of roadbase and 5 cubes of premium topsoil for about $530. I'm expecting to need more of each but i'll wait until we've distributed the first two truckloads before ordering in more. Once the topsoil and roadbase are in I'll order the gravel and mulch for the gardens.

Here's a couple of pictures of the yard before work begins.

Has anyone got any recommendations for driveway gravel, and what're your thoughts on red cypress mulch?

Cheers,

Mike

These pictures were taken at the end of the first days work. Been too busy to post them. More recent ones coming soon.

Look forward to the latest ones.

We finished the roadbase for the driveway and path last saturday and i'm still waiting for it to settle before dumping gravel on top. 90 percent has compacted nicely but there's a small strip on the footpath around the pipes that is still a little spongy. It's come a long way since sunday and if we don't get much more heavy rain it should compact nicely.

This week i've pulled down a little over 100m of koppers log fence along the front of the property and another 100m of post and dog wire fence for the paddocks in the front yard. We're in the process of upgrading it all to post and rail.

I wanted to just tear it all down and be done with it but the missus insisted that the existing black pvc coated fence mesh could be salvaged and used on the new fence. Fine for her... she didn't have to pull it all apart. We managed to get about 60 usable metres. It doesn't look as good as new, but at $134 for 20m it's good enough. We've still had to pay for another 40m of the stuff.

By the end of today i should have the last 40m of fence mesh up along the front and then the dog doesn't have to stay tied up. Next week i'll be doing the paddock fences and laying out the sleepers to make the gardens.

I'm looking forward to going back to work so i can have a break :oo:

The plate compacter or roller would be much better for the driveway, it covers more area, brings up a better finish and not as hard work. Around the pipes you can use a hand held pipe with a square bit of metal on the end- most hire shops will have one.

Compact it in 50mm layers and add a little, not too much water, to aid compaction.

As for the gravel, I'd use something close to the crushed rock roadbase, maybe in a different colour for looks. Something with gravel pieces of rock but also fines which will keep it all compacted over time. You can use Granitic Sand which goes hard but is a pain in the long run