Which Gravel Thickness?

When you’re trying to plan a landscaping project, it can seem as if there are so many things sent to complicate the project. What type of gravel? How much will you need? What depth should you go to?

There are many different manufacturers, all coming up with variations on the same theme, so we thought we would make it easy for you and put together a straight forward guide to choosing the right size gravel for your needs.

What is gravel?

In very simple terms, when you talk about gravel, what you mean is small stones. These stones are usually anything from 5mm to 30mm in diameter, and they can be rounded or with sharp angles. Angular gravels are usually sourced from quarries such as Cloburn, and rounded gravel tends to come from places like old river beds, dredging sites or beaches, where the water naturally rounds and smoothes the surface of the stones. Gravel can be any colour, depending on the source.

The types of gravel more likely to be used in a landscaping project will usually be anything from 6mm to 20mm. Our decorative red aggregate comes in three sizes: 10mm, 14mm and 20mm. Anything smaller than this is really more of a grit than a stone, and doesn’t tend to stay in place like good quality gravel will. Anything bigger can be uncomfortable to walk on, and isn’t so suitable for walkways or driveways.

 

What to use where

It’s a matter of taste, but the general rule is that the smaller gravels are best for walkways, golf courses and parks where there will be more foot-fall. For a driveway, you might prefer a larger stone, and it’s also wise to remember that if you are laying a driveway, the smaller the gravel size, the more comfortable it is for the neighbourhood cats to use it as a convenient toilet!

• Cloburn red granite chippings tend to be very popular with large landscaping projects such as golf courses, parks and cemeteries, and they have also been used for cycle paths. Also good for home driveways.

• The 14mm red aggregate can be used for pathways, as being a smaller stone it feels very comfortable under foot. It feels a little bit like walking along a beach, as you walk, the aggregate moves to accommodate your step pattern.

• The 10mm Cloburn pathway gravel is good for homes and gardens especially, and well-suited to rockeries and gardening projects. In addition to looking great, the gravel lets moisture through to the plants in the rockery, and reduces evaporation in the same way as a mulch.

For more advice about your landscaping project, feel free to check our FAQs or ask our helpful advisers.

Pedestrianised Zones

Cloburn Granite is proving to be very popular in the UK and abroad for use in decorative projects and also in areas such as shopping centres where a hard-wearing granite is needed. Cloburn’s red granite is a real favourite on the continent, in tourist centres and busy cities alike because of its reputation as being a hard-wearing and resilient surface.

Cloburn granite was formed many millions of years ago in Scotland, out of lava, and over the decades since we’ve been using it, it has gained an enviable reputation for its combination of colour, surface texture and strength. There are now many examples of commercial use of red granite around the world.

Some of the projects in which this attractive Scottish red granite have been successfully used include  high profile coloured asphalt projects for pedestrian walkways in America, bus lanes in Japan and even the busy cycle paths in Holland. We’ve noticed that this attractive red asphalt is especially popular in Europe. It is used extensively across Holland and Germany in shopping centres and similar pedestrian areas, where the aggregates are added to existing paving slabs to overhaul the look of a drab walkway, and to give new, modern malls a sophisticated look.

Our customers really seem to love this particular aggregate – they know that exposed aggregate block paving does have several advantages over the standard paving blocks sometimes used in town centre design projects. Standard paving blocks can look very sophisticated – but they depend on keeping artificial pigments to retain their decorative look. That’s where the Cloburn red aggregates have an unfair natural advantage; they will keep their attractive colour for life, and that’s  guaranteed. Even more unusually, the look of Cloburn red aggregates actually improves with age – there’s absolutely  no fading and the colour becomes richer and more vibrant as time passes, which is a great bonus for any contractors looking for long-lasting, durable and reliable materials for their project.

Cloburn red aggregates also have the advantage of being easier to keep clean for longer, because they create a greater surface area, definitely another important consideration in a busy pedestrianized European city! The sheer number of tourists and visitors to Amsterdam and other popular European destinations demands a resilient and easy to care for surface – which is why so many projects have been enhanced with Cloburn red aggregate.

Contact the team and find out more about our European projects and materials.