Drive-able Groundover? Green Driveway? Any Advice?

Hi everyone!

I have these clients who are looking to turn most of their lawn into native/beneficial ground cover. Only issue is that there's a good 40x15' that needs to be hardy enough to handle driving over. The client has a music studio with an entrance on the side of the house and 2-3 times a month he drives on the grass to load up his car. But if we want to convert the grass and establish better ground cover, what would work? I know the establishment period will be tender, but any ideas? Maybe it's something we could install in the fall, and not much driving happens during the winter months?

I've suggested wood chips, but I want to see if there are any other options. They don't want it to look like another driveway per . Any other suggestions?

Thanks y'all stay safe

What does "better/beneficial" ground cover look like for context there? What's your aim? No idea what look or function you're going for, so it's hard to suggest a ruggedized alternative, but I'd say if you're doing a 'hard reset' and can pull back top soil, add an inch layer of biochar covered by a layer of burlap fabric, then cover with 3-4" top soil and plant whatever will form a good dense surface root zone or sod layer and it should be solid, after a season or two. Transplanting cut sod (doesn't have to be lawn) would be set much faster.

Edit to add: definitely aim for sandy loam top layer rather than clay, to limit mud and slipperiness.

Maybe consider those mostly hollow concrete building blocks* sunk into the ground, filled with soil from the excavations to put them in place then planted with the same ground cover/grass as the rest of the project.
*sometimes referred to as breeze blocks
Edit to add:  this is what I mean - no need for a close mow!  https://www.gardenista.com/posts/everything-need-know-grass-block-pavers/

Never even thought of this kind of application before but I'd say creeping thyme or yarrow off the top of my head

The issue with driving over an area, even just semi-regularly, is that if the ground is at all wet, the soil will end up compressed.

When I read the question, my thoughts went to narrow pavers just where the wheels will go, and mixed greenery on either side. The pavers don't have to cover a the full 15 ft mentioned, just be wide enough to spread the weight of the car tires.

This is an old school system that was used a lot in Canada. My grandfather had exactly that leading from the road to his garage, and around it was grass. Nowadays, if the clients are open to options, I know someone else who had thyme around pavers, and it was winter tolerant (Ottawa, Ontario).

I like several of the suggestions.

Jay suggested pavers though why not use flag stones in place of the pavers?

Moss in between the flag stones.

Wood chips along the middle and sides of the flag stones with creeping thyme on the outer edge because it is so pretty.

Our ground goes from so  hard that a crowbar wont go into it to so  soft that the crowbar disappears into the bowels of the bog.  After lots of research and a trip to the UK, we found a 100% recycled and UV stabilised mesh called geo-hex. This we saw used on bogs for bird watchers to park cars on.

We put a gravel layer down then a non-woven fabric, geo-hex and filled with crushed rock (reclaimed aggregate) in the driveway which now has a grass covering.  We put down the geo-hex and in filled with soil then put in grass and flower seed for the path.  We are considering insect deterring herbs to stop flies and bities coming into the house.  It is not a cheap solution but it required minimal, but some, maintenance and a bit of watering.
At the entrance off the road, we have put down wood chips as they lie flat and compact into a firm layer.

One thing that I have seen is using round timber laid horizontally and close together to form a stick walkway. Timber that is rot resistant will last for years.  You can char the timber which will make it virtually rot-proof. I got the following information online but here is a thread on Permies which may point you in the direction https://permies.com/t/242629/shou-sugi-ban-charring-technique

Yakisugi (焼杉, "burnt cedar") is a traditional Japanese wood preservation technique that charrs the surface of cedar or cypress to make it water-resistant, fire-resistant, and durable against insects and mold

How about recycled rubber grass mats for driveways: https://grassmatsco.co.uk/products/premium-rubber-grass-mats

Anne Miller wrote:I like several of the suggestions.

Jay suggested pavers though why not use flag stones in place of the pavers?

Moss in between the flag stones.

I wonder if flagstone is durable enough to drive on.  Seems like as large as they can be, a tire in the middle would break it.

lovely! I have driveway envy now.

My place used to be a small dairy farm, and had to be able to handle big trucks coming in and turning around. The areas for that purpose are graveled (heavily and deeply, to handle the trucks), but most of the time you can't see the gravel because of the grass growing through it. In one area, you can't see it at all, and in two other areas the grass is still a little thin and when freshly mown, the gravel is still visible. One of those grid systems could serve the same purpose; I don't know which costs more, is more easily found locally, or is made of more sustainable materials. Properly done, though, a gravel area lasts a long time, and it will allow grass and clover, etc., to grow up through it. We still have a big truck turning around here weekly (the garbage truck - we are at the end of a dead-end road), and it's been at least fifteen years since gravel was last added.

I second this wisdom re gravel. I have a 175-year-old farm with a well-constructed flat gravel parking pad between the house and the barn that is now fully covered in thriving volunteer white clover despite my driving on it several times each month. ☘️🍀🙌💯♾️🦉🤗🙏🌳🦋

Kathleen Sanderson wrote:My place used to be a small dairy farm, and had to be able to handle big trucks coming in and turning around. The areas for that purpose are graveled (heavily and deeply, to handle the trucks), but most of the time you can't see the gravel because of the grass growing through it. In one area, you can't see it at all, and in two other areas the grass is still a little thin and when freshly mown, the gravel is still visible. One of those grid systems could serve the same purpose; I don't know which costs more, is more easily found locally, or is made of more sustainable materials. Properly done, though, a gravel area lasts a long time, and it will allow grass and clover, etc., to grow up through it. We still have a big truck turning around here weekly (the garbage truck - we are at the end of a dead-end road), and it's been at least fifteen years since gravel was last added.

Gravel always a reasonable choice,  the finer the more compact.  I use a few newer arable grasses with 3+ micro clovers in places with heavy animal hooffering more to your point.  Stands up to sharp hooves during winter wet months.  Oddly you do have to water thru summer to keep from having bare spots.  For a driveway I use oyster shells when possible.  Here in PNW we can still get them.  The calcium carbonate breaks down over time balancing our soil and allowing me to hedgerow otherwise impossible species, Blackthorn, Oaks, Hawthorn, Ash, Filberts here. Cheers.

Thanks for everyone chiming in here - this really is a quality-of-environment proposition, isn't it, to have stabilized ground, able to deal with the burden of some vehicle traffic, that is still beautiful and water absorbent?

For my farm, I have used geocell - both tiles and grid. It has been around since the 1950s, but gotten popular more recently. I posted an explanation and pictures here: https://permies.com/t/374015/Gravel-pad-foundation-concerns  (scroll down to the bottom of that thread to see).  I have used it as structure to establish green lanes for driving as well as footing under hoop house / greenhouse / shed.
It is a good consideration for a friendly green roadway area and other farm uses:  https://www.backyardbases.com/farms/?srsltid=AfmBOorvToLHJjKJJfGYlnJrNLVpW6DiOzwwsyg6ZDQw5f1vOF6HTyoR

You can stretch out the geo cell web, peg it and then fill with soil or shredded straw, deep litter bedding from chicken house, whatever compost you have around, shredded comfrey leaves mixed with shredded cardboard... I have used all of those... and then broadcast whatever type of seeds you like to generate a living surface.

Good luck with your project!!

Also.... with regard to appropriate and viable ground cover plants.... it looks like you are in Southern Maine. Is the location of the green drive also there? What growing zone?  That could help with selecting well matched green...

UMass Extension (Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment), Selection of Grasses for Turf — regional New England seed-mix recommendations, fine fescue included for low-input/high-stress turf areas: https://www.umass.edu/agriculture-food-environment/turf/fact-sheets/selection-of-grasses

The gravel and clover combo keeps coming up here for good reason. I've seen a few driveways locally where people just put gravel down years ago and clover moved in on its own, and it holds up really well to occasional traffic without looking particularly rough. Doesn't need much maintenance either once it's established.