What is the best filler? Tuscan topping or sand or crushed rocks?

[Abhijeet_rookie]

Hi,

Hope everyone is doing well. Attached is picture of plan for my backyard. It has mainly three sections - Sitting area, grass and Veggie patch area.

Following is my plan -

1. Sitting area and Veggie patch - Both will have weed mat and then some filling to compact it. Sitting area will have a few stones / pebbles to make it look pretty. The veggie patch with have standing garden beds

2. Grass area - Plan is to fill it with garden or top soil 90 mm and then Kekou grass patches

Question - What is the preferred kind of fillers for the sitting and veggie area? Sand or Tuscan topping or crushed rocks? There will be some foot traffic for sure in these areas. Hence not sure what to use.

[EricL]

Hello @Abhijeet_rookie 

Thank you for sharing your garden plans with us. Tuscan topping, sand and pebbles all provide excellent drainage. Personally, I prefer the grey gravel and pebble mix as they look very nice when it gets wet by the rain. The Tuscan topping however provides a beautiful contrast of colour and is relaxing to look at.

I propose using the same ground cover in your veggie area for uniformity and ease of layout. My best suggestion is to build a garden edging out of sleepers to prevent the ground cover from spilling into the lawn.

I suggest having a look at these discussions and looking at the ground cover that they used:

• Backyard fire pit area by @bennybennybenny 
   
• Backyard fire pit with bench seating by @sannear 
   
• Outdoor fire pit area with hanging chairs by @cmp3121 
   
• Outdoor entertaining area with fire pit by @jessejujitsu 
   
• Sunken fire pit with seating by @ashleesellen 

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric