Good idea to add pea gravel to compacted soil?

[lkmiscnet]

We have a lot of pea gravel in our alley/driveway and I was thinking perhaps it might be a good idea to add some shovels of it to an area of my garden that gets really compacted soil as I thought it would help aerate it. After our frequent summer rains, the soil is just so heavy and wet. Is that a good idea?

[kriket]

hum, I am by no means a dirt genius, but I think compost and hummus would be better for compacted soil than gravel. I feel like the gravel would just make it worse. I am interested to know what more experienced gardeners will say!

[zavierchick]

I agree, compost, peat moss, etc. would probably lighten it up more - are you trying to grow something in that area? Or just make it less wet for walking on? If it is just for walking, than the gravel would probably work great, but if it is for growing, I think it will just make it tougher on the roots to get where they want to go. Oh, and HI from another CO dweller

[lkmiscnet]

I wanted to grow plants there. It's a shady location under a mulberry tree and it just seems to stay wet from these almost daily summer soaker thunderstorms. I think the plant roots end up suffocating. I've had so many that just rotted away.

[SuburbanHippie]

We use sand. Some plants, like strawberries, prefer sandy soil.