Need ideas for walkway

I'm hoping to get some creative/free/cheap ideas for our walkway to our front porch. It's currently gravel so I've been battling weeds constantly, spraying them with vinegar. Our walkway slopes down to our porch steps and is about 20 ft long by 4 ft wide. I thought about mulching with woodchips but I'm certain they would wash out during heavy rain due to the slope. Any ideas/suggestions are appreciated!

Thanks,
Sara

Would it be sufficiently inexpensive to dig it out and deepen the gravel layer?

I would recommend digging down a bit and topping it off with your walking medium of choice.

I think you would find woodchips would be just fine, except they will break down with time and will need reapplications. Once they settle, they do well starting to lock together and hold.

Yeah, I think I'll definitely need to dig it down a bit lower, but gravel just seems like it invites weeds. This is a very sunny spot so weeds grow like crazy. I'm looking for a more low maintenance solution. Maybe I'll do wood chips and hopefully the regrading will prevent the mulch from washing away. Thanks all!

Sara K Moore wrote:Yeah, I think I'll definitely need to dig it down a bit lower, but gravel just seems like it invites weeds.

I actually read somewhere years ago, that gravel is the most labour intensive surface to maintain as a walkway. It's not so bad for a drive as cars are harder on weeds than human feet are.

1. What sort of an ecosystem are you in?
2. Have you walked the neighbourhood to see what others have used?
3. How much traffic does the walkway get?
4. What's your budget like?

Ideas I would consider:
A) Have you considered actually seeding it with grass and keeping it trimmed? Normally I keep my grass at least 4" long, but if you want dry feet and are in an ecosystem like mine which is known for lots of dew, that wouldn't be the best choice. However, much shorter than 4" and if you have a lot of weeds that out-compete grass, you'll still have to do a lot of hand weeding.
B) I've used wood-chips in places, but I find they also grow weeds and need to be refreshed regularly. That's not too bad, so long as you can get them cheap or free. At least they biodegrade into good soil, which can be left there, or moved to another spot it's needed before adding new chips.
C) If you're concerned about the surface washing down the slope, I would consider making a wooden frame to contain the chips at the edge of the walkway, with cross frame bits every couple of feet. Depending on your climate, this would also have to be replaced periodically, so consider using salvage wood from pallets or similar.
D) Near garden beds, I've actually put down old fence boards to make a path. Weeds tend to come up between the boards.
E) Plant weeds you like. Stop trying to keep it weed-free and enjoy them?

I live in NC (just updated my profile). I love the chips with wooden beams idea! I definitely don't want grass. Don't want to mow. If I can get hold of some cheap/free flagstone, I may use that and plant some ground covers (creeping thyme is growing like gangbusters near the steps) in the gravel.

yeah i think chips and beams or some sort of borders limiting washout are the way to go.
i find that weeds growing in chips are also a heck of a lot easier to pull out than weeds in gravel.

We had a similar problem.  I put down flat rocks I found and made them like stepping stones with wood chips all around and under them to level them up on top.  Worked better, but didn’t totally solve the problem until we ripped everything out and poured cement walkway ourselves.  Was too expensive, took a lot more bags of cement than I expected,  had to make two more trips to town to get more cement.  But done now and more permanent,  However, on a budget, the stepping stones and mulch work pretty good, just have to keep it weeded.

I like Fay's suggestion of wood chips with flat stones though most folks don't have access to flat stones.

The wood chips in the garden bed look great so if that were my path I would just add a thick layer of those same wood chips over the walkway.