Rock paths for free.

I live on a hilltop with great views and rocky, sandy soil. As my knees are not very good it gets harder to walk around, even on the "flat" parts, because of the shifting soil and rocks.

Following the instructions from www.tirecrafting.com I have cut the sidewalls out of tires and turned them inside out (I highly recommed the video they sell to learn how to do this.) With the help of my friend Tony we dig trenches and line the tires up so their sides are touching. We line the bottom with cardboard, sift the soil and fill the tires with rocks. Then we continue digging and sifting and filling in other areas with tires which are filled with soil.

Someday the rock paths may get concrete on them but for now they work great. The tires keep the rocks where they belong and the dirt where it belongs. The little spaces betwee the tires can hold a piece of pipe with rosemary, thyme or some other spread plant. These will totaly disguise the tires, though they are not very noticeable as only the edges show (be sure to use a level to keep the paths even).

Besides having paths that are much safer to walk on this system also clealy show which areas should not be walked on. "Please stay on the paths."

Two friends who had seen the work in progress and kind of wondered about it came over yesterday and saw the first finished section. They were very impressed.

I find it helps me to "chunk" all the work there is to do here. By sifting the oil and making paths in one area, I can then "lasagna" the tires for soil, adding conpost (stinky fish stuff) before filling the tire with dirt. This gives me a small area where I can plant seeds and not lose track of them.

The tires for dirt will have their top edges painted terra cotta color to match the salvaged washing machine tubs that line the fence. Besides holding plants up where it's harder for the dogs to get at them (a salvaged fan cover also helps) they keep the dogs from digging their way under the fence.

Ther is another factor here. We don't have rain very often, when we do it's often a deluge in the form of a tropical storm as we are in hurricane country. We work in slight depressions as we go so when we do get a heavy rain it will be slowed down and encouraged to soak in, instead of running off. In my previous house, we dug about three feety deep, sifted the soil and added compost as we put the dirt back (didn't use tires). When it rained, water washed off all other areas and ran into the river. In the area we had prepped, it soaked in like a sponge - no runoff.

This labor intensive but the materials are free and we can do one part at a time so the whole yard isn't torn up while we're working.

Hope to have a camera soon so I can post pictures.

katiebear