How to Install a Gravel Parking Strip, Part 2 – Spreading Gravel – DIY!

During the COVID-19 stay-at-home order, we decided to install a gravel parking strip. Instead of hiring a professional landscaper, we did all the manual labor ourselves. I recorded video of the entire week-long installation process from which I assembled two separate videos: Part 1 – Site Preparation, and Part 2 – Spreading the Gravel.

The total cost of this project: $630:

2 each 100' Rolls of Vigoro Heavy-Duty Weed Control Fabric and staples: $94
2 each 50' Rolls of Vigoro Heavy-Duty Edging and 24 stakes: $107
10 Yards of 5/8" Minus Crushed Basalt Gravel: $429

Our Gravel Parking Strip project involved 10 stages:

1. Call Before You Dig (homeowners call 811).
Although I was only digging about a 6” depth to remove sod, there were underground utilities and a community waterline, and I wanted them marked before the heavy gravel truck delivered the gravel.
2. Remove a 9 ½' x 72' strip if lawn that borders the busy road into our community. Fortunately, two of our neighbors gladly took the sod.
3. Level the dirt and remove soil to a depth of 4" along the edges of the lawn, the concrete driveway and street.
4. Install a heavy-duty weed control fabric.
5. Install a heavy-duty plastic edging to separate the gravel from the lawn.
6. Receive delivery of the gravel.
7. Spread the gravel.
8. Hose down the gravel to settle the dust.
9. Drive back and forth over the gravel in our car to compact it.
10. Make adjustments to bumps and dips in the gravel and compact again.

I hope that you enjoy watching this video and that my gravel parking strip project experience will help you with your gravel project!