20mm Ballast

We have branches across the South Coast of England, including Poole in Dorset, Winchester, Tadley, Romsey and Portsmouth in Hampshire. Internal showrooms are available to view in Poole and Portsmouth and external displays are available at Portsmouth, Poole, Winchester and Tadley. 

Please visit our contact page for further information.

It is really a personal choice whether you want to use a membrane under bark chips. This will reduce maintenance by suppressing the weeds further, but you will have future issues on the disposal of these membranes when they reach the end of their useful life. They can also look unsightly quickly after installation especially if you do not have enough bark chips to fully cover and protect this membrane.

Bark chips can last a surprisingly long time as long a good material has been used. If they are well maintained and in sufficient quantity, you could expect them to last anything up to 5 years before starting to breakdown into the soil.

We would always recommend using aggregates of either 14mm or 20mm in size for a domestic driveway, anything larger can be kick up onto cars, which can cause damage to bodywork, and anything small can be difficult to walk on and will get stuck in your shoes or car tyres.

Shingle and Gravel are essentially the same product. A small rounded and angular stone quarried or dredged from the sea and called either shingle or gravel.

As a rule of thumb, you are going to need at least twice the depth of the chipping of gravel size. So, for 20mm chippings you are going to need at least 40mm depth to stop the base material showing through after time. Generally we would recommend going slightly deeper than this to ensure good coverage, but don’t go deeper than needed especially on small shingles / gravel such as 10mm which will be like walking on Brighton beach if used deeper than 40mm.

Using a weed suppressant membrane can greatly reduce the chances of movement under your stone chippings. It will also help reduce maintenance and keep you path or driveway looking better for longer. You must consider the environmental impact of using a plastic membrane in your garden and always consider careful if it’s really needed.

Yes. Our opening hours and address are found on the Contact Us page. We have fork-lift trucks for loading onto suitable vehicles at all sites, and staff are always available to help with loading of smaller items. We highly recommend that you call your local branch, before visiting, to confirm the items you wish to collect are available.