gravel driveway? What to use for border?

[greybeard]

My driveway/parking area is 6" thick, measures 35' X 85'-- iron ore --that's what passes for gravel around here. The only problem is encroaching grass along the 3 edges. Been using landscape timbers as the borders and keeping a little area along the outside of them sprayed with roundup, but the timbers rot after 2-3 years at most, curl and bow in the sun and just won't stay put very easily.
What do you folks use to delineate where your driveway stops and lawn begins?

 

[dun]

Spray the driveway and mow the lawn.

 

[greybeard]

Spray the driveway and mow the lawn.

That works, if ya want to spray glyphosate every month, but Bahia still wants to encroach onto the driveway area. Sprayed it last year with Barrier (Gly + Imazapyr--same as RM43) and the next week's rain washed some of it out into the lawn and I had a 2' wide strip of bare dirt around the driveway--wife was not happy. Bahia just don't want to stay where it's supposed to stay.
Ya have to have something physical to impede it's spread of runners.
I have almost enough excess heavy wall 6" diameter PVC pipe, if I split it in half lengthwise, lay them down radius side up and have considered that, but what a pita to cut pvc that long.

 

[Bigfoot]

May be hard to find in your area, but I've got some conveyer belt that is 18 inches wide. I lay it around the border of my flower beds, I have seen our common Bermuda , cross it. It does seem to hold it back better than anything else I have tried.

 

[cowgirl8]

We have a gravel circle drive in front of our house. One side is just grass to gravel...the other, and it works great, is a concrete border we put in when we built out house...We just used scraps from building and made a frame and poured in concrete, its lasted so far 26 years and i wished we had done the other side. It works perfect and looks great edged....i just used spray on the other side but it never looks good. I hope for another good calf selling year like 2014, and if that happens again, all gravel goes and we get concrete to fill it all in..

 

[talltimber]

concrete blocks? fill with mortar and trowel like you want. Wife can paint it the color she wants?

 

[callmefence]

I used railroad crossties drilled holes in em about every 18" and nailed em down to the ground with 3/4 rebar.
Mine s done square and level. I filled it with gravel and set one of those Muller double carports and storage sheds on it . Nailed down to the crossties.

 

[TCRanch]

We use huge, mostly flat limestone boulders.

 

[Aaron]

You people and your fancy driveways. :roll:

 

[SJB]

Yep, some kind of masonry or railroad ties. You can edge up to them and spray gly 3 times a year and it will look nice.

 

[JMJ Farms]

An edger is the only foolproof way to whoop it.

 

[skyhightree1]

My driveway/parking area is 6" thick, measures 35' X 85'-- iron ore --that's what passes for gravel around here. The only problem is encroaching grass along the 3 edges. Been using landscape timbers as the borders and keeping a little area along the outside of them sprayed with roundup, but the timbers rot after 2-3 years at most, curl and bow in the sun and just won't stay put very easily.
What do you folks use to delineate where your driveway stops and lawn begins?

I put in tons of gravel driveways some don't care about the gravel running away on the sides but those that do I offer them the metal edging on the sides or pavers to line the driveway. I also got to the point now I put down the driveway fabric to try to keep the grass and weeds at bay atleast for a while depending on persons budget. I have actually put those cement wheel stops along the driveway the ones you see in parking lots. 90% of driveways here is the same slag you are speaking of coming from a steel mill here locally. I hate the stuff breaks up too easily unless its the # 3 which we use on farm roads or for a base.

 

[greybeard]

Not slag--this comes right out of the ground-iron ore pits. Runs about $345 for 14 yard dump--depending how much you order at a time. A mix of 1/8-3/8" diameter iron ore particles, sand and red clay--50%-25%-25% I would guess. Have to watch what they deliver tho or it will be mostly red clay which turns into a muddy slick mess when it rains.
Gravel around here is cost prohibitive--it all gets bought up by the ready mix companies.
Iron ore is usually found just above the red clay boundary--I haven't found any on my place, tho I do have lots of red clay on a hill beyond my pond. That means the ore has either rusted away or washed off over the centuries, leaving just the clay.

I'd need 20 crossties, and the cheapest I can find any around here is $18.50 each. Be pushing $400 with tax--not what I was wanting to spend.

but those that do I offer them the metal edging on the sides

What is this metal edging you speak of?

 

[skyhightree1]

but those that do I offer them the metal edging on the sides

What is this metal edging you speak of?

This stuff

http://www.homedepot.com/p/COL-MET-8-ft ... /100327736

https://www.google.com/search?q=metal+e ... 3qfx0AM%3A

 

[1982vett]

but those that do I offer them the metal edging on the sides

What is this metal edging you speak of?

This stuff

http://www.homedepot.com/p/COL-MET-8-ft ... /100327736

https://www.google.com/search?q=metal+e ... 3qfx0AM%3A

Trouble with the metal edging is you need 4 stakes that cost about $2.50 each so the cost is around $2 a foot. Then it rusts out in a few years. I was going to use it around my landscaping beds till I found out the stakes weren't included. I ended up using this http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pavestone-Ru ... ver+edging for 40 cents a foot more. Looks great too. Been in a year now. Hasn't heaved and isn't hard to edge with a weed eater. Cross ties would probably work the best. You could set a short piece like you would a post between each laying on the ground. Peg them together with rebar and that would keep everything in place for a long time.

 

[greybeard]

I've seen the Home Depot stuff--too thin and flimsy, but I will have to look in to this stuff-I would want at least 12 ga, preferably 1/8" tho. As old as I am, I'd be 'rusted away' in the grave before 10 ga, 8 ga or 1/8" did.
https://www.colmet.com/index.cfm/fuseac ... oductID/2/

 

[skyhightree1]

What is this metal edging you speak of?

This stuff

http://www.homedepot.com/p/COL-MET-8-ft ... /100327736

https://www.google.com/search?q=metal+e ... 3qfx0AM%3A

Trouble with the metal edging is you need 4 stakes that cost about $2.50 each so the cost is around $2 a foot. Then it rusts out in a few years. I was going to use it around my landscaping beds till I found out the stakes weren't included. I ended up using this http://www.homedepot.com/p/Pavestone-Ru ... ver+edging for 40 cents a foot more. Looks great too. Been in a year now. Hasn't heaved and isn't hard to edge with a weed eater. Cross ties would probably work the best. You could set a short piece like you would a post between each laying on the ground. Peg them together with rebar and that would keep everything in place for a long time.

That's some of the pavers I use