Garden Walkways

"G" just asked me for the best way to make his garden walkways. He was thinking of using cardboard, or possibly old carpet. He also thought about using a permanent wooden boardwalk or stepping stone path. I really couldn't tell him "the best" walkway to make, but I did mention a few of my own experiences. Since "G" lives not too far from me, my experiences might help him decide what to do. 

1- cardboard or newspaper. Yes, thick layers do keep the weeds down. But those layers can get real slick and slippery with all the rain we've been getting. Plus there's the problem with wind. Unless held down with dirt or rocks, the paper will eventually blow around. I've tried both, but now won't use either. After taking a couple bad falls on slippery paper, I won't dare let the stuff in my walkways. Not worth getting a broken wrist or hip, or worse. 

2- carpet. I've vetoed carpet for a couple of reasons. First of all, the chemicals. Repeated rains will leach the various chemicals out and into the soil, where the plants could take them up. No one has done research about this, so heaven alone knows what might get into the food you pick. Most carpeting has anti-fire chemicals which have been found to be very persistent in the environment, including in our own bodies. Nasty stuff. Plus they often contain anti-stain chemicals, anti-fade chemicals, glues, and who knows what else. 

     Second, the carpeting degrades in the tropical sun. Before long you will end up with a mass of shredded carpet strings with grass growing up through it. Try to pick them up will be a nightmare. They'll be well imbedded in the soil and intertwined in plant roots. Been there, done that, never will do it again. 

3- thick grass clippings or tree leaves.  Just like the wet cardboard, this stuff can get real slick. Because most people don't want to have to reapply a mulch every week, they will pile the stuff on thick. Big mistake. It gets to be real dangerous walking on it. It's the thickness that is the problem. 

4- I've seen cement blocks used successfully for garden paths, though they wouldn't work well for my own gardening methods. I use a cultivating tiller which kicks the soil about. Thus the cement blocks would get soil all over them every time I worked the garden beds. I suppose I could just resign myself to having the broom it off each time, but I hate wasting the time. The same problem would occur when I use mulch. The wind would tend to blown it onto the cement blocks. Though this method wouldn't please me, it might work perfectly fine for other gardeners. If using hand tools instead of a tiller, if using heavy woodchip mulch instead of fluffy grass, the cement blocks might be perfect. A plus would be that no weeds would grow in the walkways. You'd have a non-slippery, solid surface to walk on. The downside would be the expense, plus the work to install it. 

5- a permanent boardwalk. The same can be said for a wooden pathway as for the cement blocks. Eventually the wood would rot, but if you were willing to live with that, then it would be fine....and pretty. I don't know how slippery it might get over time in a wet environment. I've never tried it. As with the cement blocks, it would be expensive and require labor to install. 

6- wood chips. I've seen wood chips used in garden pathways and it seemed quite nice. Looked good. They would need to be applied thickly to stop most weeds, though some would still grow through. And though they would last a lot longer than grass clippings, they would need to be replenished occasionally. The downsides are #1- slugs would hide underneath them, and #2- most people would have to go out and purchase them. 

7- cinder or gravel. Both can be had in Hawaii. Both can be used successfully. Like wood chips, they would need to be refreshed regularly because you'd eventually walk them into the soil. And like wood chips, most people would have to purchase them. In my own gardens they wouldn't work because they would quickly be covered in soil or mulch. But I could see them doing ok in other situations. 

8- weed cloth. I'm really anti weed cloth, especially the lightweight stuff you can buy in Home Depot, Walmart, etc. Weeds, especially grass, grow right up through it. It gets "glued" to the ground, making it a nightmare to remove. If one is considering using weedblock cloth, I'd suggest going with the heavyweight professional grade stuff. You'd have to figure out a method to hold it down, such as using metal pins. 

In my own gardens I use grass clippings. I apply lightly and frequently. That way I don't end up with a wet slippery mass. They may not be as pretty as some other things, but for me they're readily available. A side benefit is that they will gradually decompose, supplying nutrients to the nearby plants.