Laying the path
- 1Mark the line with string or a hose. A metre wide fits a barrow; 60 cm is enough between beds.
- 2Cut back grass and pull big weeds. No need to dig.
- 3Lay cardboard (tape and staples off) or a permeable membrane, overlapping the edges well.
- 4Add an edge if the path runs beside lawn: boards, logs or a cut trench stop chip wandering.
- 5Spread chip 7 to 10 cm deep and walk it in. It settles by about a third in the first month.
Cardboard or membrane?
Cardboard rots away in a season or two, by which time the chip has smothered most weeds. It's free and feeds the soil. Membrane lasts longer and suits paths over persistent weeds like couch grass, but chip that rots on top of it will grow weeds of its own in time.
For allotment paths, cardboard and a yearly top-up is the usual answer.
Keeping it going
Top up with 5 cm of fresh chip each year. Every few years, the bottom layer will have turned to rich, dark compost: rake back the top, dig out the rotted chip for your beds, and refill.
Tip: Pick out thorny bits (holly, hawthorn) from paths you'll walk barefoot or kneel on.