I've used crushed stone many times for hard surfaces such as barns and parking pads. I have not used it for anything that needed to look nice. I agree with annz, in that you will want to accent in some way if used. Even the crushed stone will turn up if your dog gets into it. It is quite literally as hard a concrete as long as the surface stays intact. Once you break the surface though... ... the important thing to do is moisten it up and tamp it as soon as you see it starting to open up. If I knew how to put pictures in here, I would let you see my situation. There were a couple yards of pea gravel left from construction (drain fill because it won't compact) and I decided to use it as filler in a walk area and expanded drive until paving could be done. Even with the big white pavers on top, I'm constantly sweeping the stuff around and my yard has basically become 50/50 grass/ pea gravel. Even the existing asphault has become completely infected with it. I think long term crushed stone will be best all the way around. Certainly if you can afford to put some stepping stones on it soon. The big bonus is it will be there when you are ready to lay down the paver walk later. I don't know if annz is refering to the same post or not, but within the last couple days there was a big discussion on pea gravel for a patio. Look it up for a lot more opinions. Good Luck!

lazygardens: What drained out is mostly silt and sand -- like the thick muck you might scrape up from the bottom of a river. It looks like it would harden into an impermeable layer on the landscape fabric. Perhaps it would soften again when wet. There are some smaller pieces that we hope to sift out of the fine silt, and use that as fines. We finished about 1/2 of the path yesterday before quitting for the day due to fatigue. We'll finish next weekend.

radhavall, For lotus I pretty much followed the instructions in this post http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ponds/gal011949278549.html I only used 1/2 cheap topsoil and 1/2 black cow and also added a little red clay from our yard. I used 3/4 cup of osmocote towards the bottom of the urns. I also add a pond fertilizer tab per month. I got good flowering with this method. I add water from the hose as needed usually every other day if it isn't rainy. They are in full sun. I filled the urns with 3/4 topsoil/manure mixture and 1/4 with water. I laid the tuber on top of the topsoil and weighed it down with some small rocks. Lotus are very heavy feeders so they really need some type of fertilizer. If yours are already growing roots and have some leaves it might be best if you just added some fertilizer tabs instead of disturbing the roots by repotting until they are dormant again. * It is very important with lotus, that once they come out of dormancy, to not disturb the roots or tuber. They are very fragile and if they break they will die if they aren't in a dormant state. Try not to let any leaves break off either because if part of the tuber breaks at the bottom of the stem it could cause it to rot. Just let your leaves and flowers naturally die off and fall into the container or on the ground etc. *Another consideration for lotus: I have heard that using square containers for lotus is a no no. The reason being is that the lotus could grow into the corner and jam up and break the tubers. With lotus they grow roots and then more tubers, roots, tubers etc.. I don't know if it is true but I have always used round urns and planted directly into the urn vs submerging another planter pot down into it. Lotus are vigorous growers and may grow also outside of the planter pot and continue to make tubers into the water container. Once it has got cold enough in the winter that the tuber has gone dormant, and all the leaves have disappeared, then you can dig up your tuber and separate the new growth ones to get more tubers. I would do this in early Feb or late Jan. right before I would replant them again. It might be different for your zone. I don't have experience with lotus seeds. I bought some from Michael's but never planted them lol. My lotus made a few seeds but I didn't really do anything with them either I just threw them into the tub but I don't think they ever sprouted. Bees really love the flowers. I think that's what pollinated mine. Water Lilies: Use a large container without a hole. Fill it with water. Trash containers, Round laundry tubs from walmart, nice pots or whatever you can find as long as it doesn't leak should work. For potting the actual lily. You can use either plastic dish tubs from the dollar store or cheap oil pans from walmart or round pots with holes in the bottom that you can put a few layers of newpaper down to cover the holes. You want one that is about at least a gallon size. I like short fat pots better than tall skinny ones. I planted several in the large hanging plastic baskets I got on sale I just took off the hanger and lined them with newpaper. Soil: Use cheap topsoil without a lot of peat in it. I have found that the more expensive kinds have more peat and peat floats so you don't want that. Some people just use topsoil from their yard or if you can get your hands on river bottom clay that is really great for them. I mixed in some red clay from our yard with the topsoil. The plain kitty litter (special kitty brand) from walmart is pure clay without any additives. You can mix some in if you want a heavier mixture. The thing is with the bagged litter clay is that it probably doesn't have any micronutrients in it for the lily like natural clay would. Lily Size Considerations: For water pot culture, it is probably best to use lilies that are designed for small or medium ponds. In the variety description on most websites (Texas waterlilies etc) it will usually tell you if it is a small, medium, or large waterlily. I do have a few large ones (red flare and red cup night blooming tropical) that do okay in containers. They just do not grow as large as they would in a pond. I think it is kinda like bonsai...the plant does not have the root space so it stays smaller. Most of my tropical lilies are medium sized range but some are med-lg. I don't seem to have any issues. Water pot height: In the lily variety descriptions on the web sites that sell them it will tell you how far below the surface the planting pot (with soil) should be from the top of the water. For example at Texas waterlilies website for the King of Siam lily...note it says, "Best to grow in 6" to 18 " of water. This means the planting pot should be submerged 6 to 18 inches below the surface of the water. This is so the lily can get to the top of the water and so it can get enough light to bloom. For pot culture I go with the deeper measurement because the pots get hotter than a pond would and it just seems to work out better. So keep this in mind when choosing what kind of container you will use to hold water for your lily. If you have a really deep pot, you could use some bricks or something to raise the lily a little bit if needed. Planting: Tropical Lilies: Some people are now calling these annual waterlilies so the term is used interchangeably. In zones 9-11 they are perennial but in colder zones they need to be stored in a frost free area or just used as annuals. I have recently seen a neat way to store them for the winter. I use either round or square pots for planting the tropical lily. One to two gallon size seems best for pots. Either way, I like the shorter pots vs taller skinny pots. Heavy Topsoil or river bottom clay is best. Again, I mix cheap topsoil (no peat) and a little red clay from my yard. One year I used straight 100% clay kitty litter and had no problems. Some people mix in a time release fertilizer but I use the pond tabs after they are planted and submerged in the water. When you plant the tropical waterlilies you want to plant them in the center of the pot and try not to cover the crown of the plant. You can place a few rocks over the root area (not the crown) to weigh it down if you think it might float out. Gently submerge into the water filled container. Then once it is submerged you can add your pond tab fertilizer (if that is what you are using). Just push the tablet down into the soil a few inches towards the side of the pot and away from the lily. I keep my pots in full sun. A little afternoon shade probably won't hurt the lilies especially if you live somewhere really hot. Here is a good video link (copy and paste into your browser) for planting tropical lilies. http://youtu.be/RhoWFSFfGGQ Planting Hardy Lilies: I only have one hardy waterlily. It is yellow with striped leaves. I just used planting baskets that I already had but you can use the dish pans or oilpans for them. They are generally planted in a corner of the tub with the roots facing toward the center so the roots can grow outwards. You can weigh it down a little with a small rock to keep it from floating out. Make sure not to completely cover the crown of the lily (where the leaves are emerging from the tuber). I plant first then gently submerge it down into the water filled pot. Then add pond tabs. Some people use a time release fertilizer that is mixed into the soil. I haven't tried that kind yet so just use the pond tabs lol. Here is a good video to demonstrate how to plant a hardy waterlily. http://youtu.be/GC8PaZCFLSg Fertilizer: The only fertilizer that I have used for lilies is the Pond Tabs. There are lots of different kinds on the market. I bought some cheap on ebay and added two to each lily basket. Which ever fertilizer you use should have instructions with them. I am still learning what does and doesn't work with water pot culture. There are lots of videos on You Tube on waterlilies and lotus. Here is some pics from a few yrs ago of some of the water lilies I grew in trash containers lol. Red Flare (tropical night bloomer) Panama Pacific (tropical day bloomer) Hardy Yellow water lily This post was edited by sultry_jasmine_night on Sat, May 10, 14 at 12:34

We used a mix of pea gravel and Mexican river rock for some of the areas around our pool (couple of pics below). The river rocks stay solidly in place except when the kids name them and take them swimming (yes, it's happened!) Some of the pea gravel gets tracked into the pool. I didn't intend for it to be walked on, but you know how kids are :-) I just pluck out the pieces of gravel when I'm swimming around. I might find 5 or 6 a week in there, so it's no biggie. I made sure to hold the gravel down below the decking elevation so it wouldn't wash out during super-heavy rains.