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tips for awkward spots

Idea: Free recycled path material

K Eilander

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Location: Rocky Mountains, USA

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posted 4 years ago

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So I was out spring cleaning today (procrastination like this takes years of practice :) ) and I noticed a stack of spare roofing shingles (like I'm sure we've all got somewhere) had fallen over during the winter.

Though the weeds around it were tall, just as one might suspect underneath there was nothing growing at all.

Not sure if this has already been done, but it got me to thinking... used asphalt shingles for garden paths!

Pros:
1) Those things last simply forever
2) no self-respecting weed is a match for their weight and toughness.
3) easy to peel up and move if/when you change your mind
4) stays put (as opposed to, say, gravel, which likes to migrate everywhere)
5) free for the taking if you get to know a roofer

Cons:
1) Could get sticky in the heat (though most used ones the tar would be so full of dirt it might be a non-issue)
2) Make sure all the nails are out, because, ouch!
3) ** this seems to be the big one I that overlooked, so I thought I'd add it to the OP ** potential for toxins leaching into the soil, especially around food-growing areas

Thoughts?

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Su Ba

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posted 4 years ago

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I'm to the point in my permaculture journey where I wouldn't consider using roofing shingles in my gardens. I would be concerned about the leaching factor.

It's never too late to start! I retired to homestead on the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano. I relate snippets of my endeavor on my blog : www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com

Michael Cox

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posted 4 years ago

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Same. I’d be concerned about them eventually breaking down as well, and potentially leaving fragments in the soil.

Our paths are all deep woodchip. Feeds the soil while making a good walking surface and keeping mud and weeds down. We get free loads dropped periodically.

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Douglas Alpenstock

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posted 4 years ago

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I don't think I would put them in food growing areas. Might be appropriate on the dirt floor of a shed though.

Like you, I keep trying to come up with reuses for stuff. Asphalt shingles are a tough one.

Kc Simmons

gardener

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Location: Central Texas

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posted 4 years ago

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This is a neat idea! I usually grow something in my garden paths, like purslane or something else that's low-growing; plus I change the layout of the annual garden each year, so I probably wouldn't use them for that purpose, but I could see them being a helpful border around the garden to help me keep up with the bermuda grass that's constantly trying to sneak in. I'm sure the bermuda would just go over the shingles, but it would be easier for me to see the runners.
I could also see them being useful for paths to & from the poultry/livestock enclosures where the weeds quickly get waist-high and it gets muddy after rains.

Anne Miller

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posted 4 years ago

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Years ago when we first moved to our homestead the path from the parking area to the back door was about 100'. It was really bad having to walk through mud to get to the house. We used a 100 roll of roofing to make the path until we could get concrete poured.

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Chris Kott

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posted 4 years ago

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I have to go with the free chip dump over the asphalt tiles, personally. Those things are a nightmare to get out of your soil, and I already remediate to sequester heavy metals and break down hydrocarbons. I definitely don't need more.

Wood chip paths, however, can act as a moisture battery, and as the chips decompose, a mycelial highway, and a soil life bioreactor. Asphalt roofing tiles sound to me like yet another remediation headache, along with chipped tire mulch and cheap plastic mulch.

-CK

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Kenneth Elwell

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posted 4 years ago

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the happy stuff first.

I'd find a better storage for them, if indeed they are useful for repairs (assuming they are a color match for your roof.) That way they stay in good enough condition to be used.
If they are OLD, and you are close to getting a NEW roof, I'd make sure that stack of spare ones (same age as the roof?) end up in the roofer's dumpster...
Or, find another useful roofing use for them. (crazy thought!) Chicken coop, dog house, garbage barrel shed, small roof over a door... or maybe there's a place without a ridge vent that one could be installed, and these shingles would be "a perfect match".

now the sad stuff...

I would not use them, as others said, near any food. Consider that most rainwater collection systems have a "first-flush" diverter that discards a certain amount of water that comes off the roof at the beginning of a storm.
This avoids the bird poop, and also the asphalt, and loose mineral bits from the roof going into the rain barrel, and on to your garden. Nobody wants to eat that stuff.

I would NOT go importing used shingles "for free", I would NOT even accept payment to take used shingles, I would not take them in a box from a fox, Sam I am. Your future self will thank you.
In some places disposal of roofing shingles is regulated, and "the Department of Making You Sad" might do its job.
If you intend to ever sell your place (or maybe need to) it might be a liability.

Nails are sold by the pound, that makes sense.
Soluna Garden Farm -- Flower CSA -- plants, and cut flowers at our Boston Public Market location, Boston, Massachusetts.

Jennifer Jennings

Posts: 115

Location: Milmay, NJ (latitude 39.453160, longitude -74.867990)

posted 3 years ago

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I might be late to this party...but I have to ask anyway.

I have acquired a property with a 80 yr old 300 foot long chicken shed whose roof has long fallen in, leaving tons of brittle asphalt shingles everywhere. They are mixed in with the soil that has formed inside the shed from leaves, debris, etc., and I've been sifting them out - but then what do I do with all that??? I don't want to landfill it, nor do I want to leave it in the soil. So, if I built walkways and used them like millings strictly for the paths...would that be okay? Any suggestions you have are very welcome.

I'm just a girl trying to fix some seriously damaged land. Seriously.

Michael Fundaro

pollinator

Posts: 228

Location: Southern Utah

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posted 3 years ago

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As for the original question, asphalt shingles are made with fiberglass, and asphalt (a petroleum product). Neither of which would be good for your ground, or any plants, food or otherwise.

Jennifer Jennings wrote:I might be late to this party...but I have to ask anyway.

I have acquired a property with a 80 yr old 300 foot long chicken shed whose roof has long fallen in, leaving tons of brittle asphalt shingles everywhere. They are mixed in with the soil that has formed inside the shed from leaves, debris, etc., and I've been sifting them out - but then what do I do with all that??? I don't want to landfill it, nor do I want to leave it in the soil. So, if I built walkways and used them like millings strictly for the paths...would that be okay? Any suggestions you have are very welcome.

To answer the question about disposing of the old roofing shingles, call you local garbage collector company and ask what they recommend. Some places sort through everything and sort the trash into different catagories, plastics, wood, metal, etc. so they may be separating it and keeping it out of a landfill. But, roofing companies that strip the old shingles sometimes rent a roll off dumpster to collect the old shingles and the garbage collection company deals with it they pick it up. I do not know of any exclusive type of recycling or disposal for roofing shingles.

When in doubt, doubt the doubt.

Joe Banks

Posts: 85

Location: Franklinton, NC

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posted 3 years ago

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I recommend cardboard. Everywhere I've worked in the food industry has more than they know what to do with. Some burn it. Others pay to get rid of it. But worms love it. The soil beneath cardboard always becomes black through the action of earthworms. The answer is to lay down cardboard, then lay down gravel, oyster shells, pebbles, wood chips, whatever you've got. Those shingles can be saved for later roofing projects.

"Things that will destroy man: Politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity; worship without sacrifice." -- Mohandas Gandhi

Joe Banks

Posts: 85

Location: Franklinton, NC

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posted 3 years ago

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I may be off-base, but seeing the comment on waste asphalt shingles has me thinking of my experience with them. In my yard, in wet weather, I have seen that underneath these shingles the worms do great business, so I doubt that any leaching bothers them. Looking into the composition of shingles, it is usually felt or fiberglass, various minerals and asphalt or bitumen, which is a kind of petroleum which, to be fair, is also natural. I would experiment with them. If you have a sacrificial worm bin, cover their bedding with asphalt shingle scrap. See if those shingles are still there in a few months, or if they devour it the same way they do burlap. My educated guess is that all that will remain of the shingle scrap in a few months of prime worm feeding will be the adhesive tape.

Jennifer Jennings

Posts: 115

Location: Milmay, NJ (latitude 39.453160, longitude -74.867990)

posted 3 years ago

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I think my point was that Mother Nature had already begun breaking them down; I just wanted to sequester the crumbling shingles and get some usefulness out of them while she continued her work. Since my initial post, the largest chunks have gone out in the trash (no doubt to a landfill, which I despise), and the smaller bits have been used as bottom fill in flower beds and non-food areas. I use cardboard all the time everywhere I can, and we prefer wood chips above all else. I want to cleanse my land of this crap...but I also don't want to contribute to expanding a landfill site.

I think if mushroom mycelia can remediate hydrocarbons, then nature will probably do the same with the asphalt shingles, even if they contain fiberglass, asbestos, etc. I'd love to see any documented research on asphalt remediation if it's out there. Every freeze and thaw cycle breaks these things into smaller pieces, and asphalt is natural, unlike the plastics (and microplastics they will eventually become) out there.

I'm just a girl trying to fix some seriously damaged land. Seriously.

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