The result was a good visual fit for our large yard, but gravel is equally suitable for small, intimate gardens.
By DANIELLA ASHKENAZY
A mid-March Nature Preservation Society poll found that 73 percent of the public is prepared to 'greatly' or 'very greatly' save water in light of the water crisis.; only 3% said prohibiting irrigation of private gardens worries them. Is it time to "walk the talk?"
One sees tumbled terra cotta tile shards, round pebbles, black and orangey basalt from the Golan in private gardens as ornamental ground cover, but they are used frugally because of their high cost: NIS 950 to 1,850 a ton to cover five to 10 square meters.
Actually, replacing grass in a large private garden with dirt-cheap commercial gravel - which runs NIS 1,850 for a 20-ton truckload that can cover 150 square meters - requires courage. What if it doesn't look good and how exactly does one "dispose" of 20 metric tons of gravel if it doesn't work out?!
This reporter took just such a leap of faith.
Luckily, the result was a good visual fit for swathes of our large yard, but gravel is equally suitable for small, intimate gardens. Of course, having thrown caution to the wind, graveling huge shaded areas already occupied by half-a-dozen large, mature Locust trees, we also mark the seasons with a shower of snow-like yellow petals, followed by swirling seedpods, then falling leaves and twigs that need to be raked up or blown into piles and carted away.
But it's a labor of love that not only saves precious water, but also membership fees at the gym.