Gravel, what is it?

There is a wide and ever-expanding menu of finishes or aggregates that can be used as a surface dressing to give your drive or garden the WOW factor. Gravel refers to small stones, generally 5-30mm in diameter, which may be angular or rounded.

In case you’d like to know, angular gravels are usually sourced from quarries, a by-product of the crushing processes, whereas rounded gravels are from a fluvial source, such as an old river bed, beaches, and channel dredging. Gravels can be of almost any colour, depending on the parent rock type, or even a multi-coloured blend.

Pea gravel refers to well-rounded gravel, usually in the 5-10mm size range. It is a popular bedding material for laying drainage pipes.

The gravels most commonly used as a loose surface dressing are in the 6-20mm size range. Anything less than 6mm is more akin to grit and is easily disturbed; anything over 18-20mm can be difficult to walk upon.

In general, the smaller 6-10mm gravels would be used for footpaths and the 10-18mm gravels for driveways, but it really is a matter of personal taste.