Alternative to grass for "working" garden

loveisdivine

Hi,

Looking for ideas on what to cover a portion of our garden with.

Area is about 100sqm
Needs to be easy maintenance
Not grass as area will have heavy foot traffic & chickens scratching around
We're on a hill so the ground slopes and is a little uneven, but we could flatten it out a bit.

Currently has a mix of stones and grass. Previous owners didn't maintain anything so it currently looks a big horrible mess, especially in the winter weather.

So basically it needs to be practical, look tidy and not require too much maintenance.

uberwolf

Will all of it have heavy for traffic or just 'paths' through it

loveisdivine

I'd say the majority of it will have regular traffic. There's probably a couple of corners that won't see too much. I suppose we could make paths and leave some small areas as grass if it worked out cheaper/easier to do.

monkeynuz

For chickens you'll need real grass so they can scratch.

loveisdivine

We have another near half acre of grass which they have access too all day and plenty of dry areas for dust bathing.

This is just one section of the garden that see's the most foot traffic. To get from the house to anywhere else in the garden, or the garage or shed etc you pass through this part and it's getting manky in it's current state.

lazybones32

Mark out a few essential paths and plant up the other areas with a few evergreen shrubs that will grow quick and spread.

Dr_Colossus

How about those concrete paving slabs infilled with grass you see in some car parks. Would offer better drainage that all over concrete, still give the chickens an area to scratch and look good and nearly akin to a lawn in summer with the grass growth. No idea of cost though.
Similar to this:

Hocus Focus

If you google "permeable paving ireland" it will give you a few websites to look at.