Cohousing-L Mailing List: Landscape Design/Pedestrian Paths

(continued)

Here at Pleasant Hill Cohousing, we were originally excited to have 

decomposed granite pathways. We began to regret it immediately after 

move-in. The entire pathway turned into a muddy mess in even the slightest 

rain. We continually tracked the DG into our homes. When it was dry there 

was lots and lots of dust. After considering a number of possible causes 

(including that the DG may have been installed incorrectly, that it had not 

been given a long enough time to set before use, etc.) we came to the 

conclusion that this was just not a good material for a main pathway that 

gets a lot of use. After a long consensus process we finally agreed to 

replace the DG with paving stones at a cost of $32,000

And we had all these problems with DG even though we're located in an area 

that's very hot all summer long and gets no rain whatsoever for 6 months of 

the year. I may be mistaken, but I believe Ashland, Oregon may be slightly 

damper than that.

As a negative evangelist for DG, I'd be happy to share our experiences in 

more detail with any cohousing communities. Feel free to call me at 

925-685-6993.

Happy ChristmaHannuSolstiRamadaKwanzaakah to everyone!

Bob Finn

At 09:16 PM 12/23/2005, cohousing-l-request [at] cohousing.org wrote:

Our cohousing group here in Ashland is getting very busy finalizing
the landscape plans.  In designing our pedestrian paths, we would
like to create organically styled (flowing around natural contours
and human movement, ie. not linear) pathways that would create areas
for gardening, privacy and play in our common outdoor space.  Our
landscape architect is suggesting 1/4 minus Decomposed Granite (DG)
for the pathways.  There is some concerns about this material and how
well it will work.  Does it tend to track into homes and other
places?  Does it need a lot of repairs to prevent muddy spots?  Does
anyone have any experiences with this or suggestions for other
materials to consider?

Landscape Design/Pedestrian Paths	<– Date –> <– Thread –>
From: Robert Finn (finnnasw.org)
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2005 09:10:45 -0800 (PST)