We have semi-raised beds (no sides) surrounded by lawn. My husband prefers lawn and being able to mow between the beds. But, we also have a terrible creeping weed that likes to invade the beds so in some areas I have a border of wet newspapers covered with grass clippings. In my yard (gravel driveway) we still get weeds in gravel areas. Mowing grass seems to be easiest maintenance.

In my last house my gardens were in raised beds. We put down a thick layer of wood chips (from tree trimming by the power company, so free) and though we occasionally we had fungus, mostly it was a completely weed-free mulch.

In my current garden, though I don't have raised beds, the paths between the beds are mulched with a layer of cardboard topped by a relatively thick layer of wood shavings from DH's wood shop, so also free, though he has to be sure to separate the walnut shavings so the tomatoes aren't affected.

I definitely wouldn't choose gravel. As organic material drops in or blows in and decomposes (and in my veggie garden there's a lot of that), then seeds drop in and grow. It's a lot of work keeping gravel weed-free in my experience.

nhbabs- I agree about the gravel! Most of ours have been overgrown and we have to Roundup the whole area(which we hate to do!) Have tried boiling water and vinegar with not much luck! Nancy

I don't like gravel around the beds that you dig twice a year. The soil is going to be on the gravel, doesn't matter how carefully I dig. And it most likely will stay on top of the ground where it fall or slip to the lowest point of the path with rain water and will make weeds breeding ground. Also, if weed seeds managed to get between gravel and grow, when you pull it the roots either stuck in very hard path soil or takes soil up with them and makes a mess. I use wood chips. I have an agreement with local tree company, I call them when I need more, and they drop them off for me for free from their next job. (They need to dump it somewhere!) if you plan ahead, you can find wood chips from evergreens, they are the best in my opinion. So you add them fresh every year, while the height of your beds allows you, and when is too high, you put them in the compost pile - they will be almost ready compost on the bottom in 2-3 years and start fresh. Removing occasional weeds are easy from the wood chips - the root comes out more easy, as it prefers to stay in rotting chips, then go into hard ground.

We stripped the grass around the beds, put down weed barrier, and use 12 x 12 x 1 pavers on top of the barrier. They come in a variety of colors and make the garden look very organized. Depending on the orientation of the beds, we have 2' - 3' space between the beds. Easy to walk on and using the wheelbarrow between the beds. Just a thought. Let us know what you decide.

I use cardboard with mulch/wood chips between some of my raised beds. It seems to work fairly well for me. The weeds that do come up are easy to pull out. I've also started experimenting with paver stepping stones surrounded by different groundcovers (creeping herbs, sweet potatoes, strawberries, etc). That is still an experiment in progress, though using sweet potatoes as groundcover does seem to choke out the weeds (as well as completely cover the stepping stones).

I put down 1X1 paving stones and allowed the grass to grow around them as shown in picture. Bad idea! I prefer something you don't have to cut and something that highlights the garden. I recommend a concrete walk. That will be my next improvement.