Rethinking Your Garden With Gravel Grids: Environmentally Friendly Alternatives to Artificial Grass with Nadine Mansfield

Nowadays, many garden designers are rethinking traditional low-maintenance options like artificial grass (shudders) and are leaning toward eco-friendly landscaping solutions. One of our favourite designers leading the way is Nadine Mansfield. If you haven't seen it already, she recently shared her insights on the RHS YouTube channel (see the video above), highlighting the importance of natural alternatives to artificial grass. Nadine's ideas perfectly capture the growing trend of creating sustainable garden designs that are not only beautiful but also functional and beneficial for both people and wildlife.

Nadine's designs focus on materials that are gentle on the environment yet durable for everyday use. At RHS Tatton this summer, she wowed everyone with her 'Better New Build Garden', which had some fantastic sustainable elements like a gravel patio (yes, the gravel grids were supplied by us!), reclaimed stone, native plants and hedging. This garden is a brilliant example of how new-build gardens can incorporate eco-friendly landscaping while still having a cool and stylish outdoor space. Nadine used our Nidagravel 129 grids in beige for her show garden to match and blend seamlessly with the natural buff-coloured gravel and stone patio.

In her RHS video, Nadine mentions one of her top alternatives to artificial grass is gravel. By using gravel pathways and patios as central design elements, her gardens become multi-functional spaces that are practical, inviting, and simply stunning. Gravel fits beautifully into both modern and traditional garden designs, but it's not just a pretty face! Its permeability is where the magic happens. Unlike harder landscaping materials, gravel lets rainwater drain naturally into the ground, cutting down on surface runoff and helping to prevent flooding. It's a winner all round - happy soil, happy groundwater, and a garden that looks amazing whilst helping out the planet.

To keep her gravel pathways looking flawless, Nadine relies on our Nidagravel gravel stabilisation grids - the secret weapon for hassle-free gravel surfaces! These clever grids do all the hard work, holding gravel securely in place to eliminate the dreaded "gravel travel" and those pesky uneven surfaces, resulting in a picturesque patio or pathway all year round! But there's more to these grids than just good looks. They work behind the scenes to maintain gravel's natural drainage properties, allowing rainwater to seep into the ground instead of forming puddles. This means no more worrying about waterlogged areas or messy maintenance after a downpour. Best of all, they're low-maintenance. Once installed, you can enjoy a stylish and practical outdoor space without constant tidying, raking, or topping up gravel. Because let's be honest, who has time for all that? Whether you are sprucing up a driveway, patio, or garden path, Nidagravel grids make it easy to keep your space looking sharp, functional, and effortlessly cool all year round.

Nadine's garden designs, though, are more than just swapping artificial grass for gravel - they are about creating spaces where nature and beauty thrive. Her RHS Tatton Show Garden blends pollinator-friendly plants, reclaimed materials, and wildlife-friendly features into one stunning design. Take her reclaimed slate gabion seating, which doubles as an insect habitat, or the oak totems with tiny holes, perfect for solitary bees. These thoughtful little details encourage bees, butterflies, and other buzzy things to settle in. And let's not forget the hedgehogs! With fencing access holes, Nadine's garden offers these little lone rangers safe passage between spaces. Her considerate design even includes a dual-level Corten steel water feature, providing a tranquil focal point and a refreshing pit stop for travelling birds. It's sustainable landscaping at its finest!

Nadine's work shows that even blank-canvas new-build gardens can transform into lush, sustainable spaces. By prioritising natural materials like gravel and reclaimed wood, her designs offer eco-friendly landscaping solutions that are low-maintenance and environmentally friendly. Thanks to Nidagravel gravel stabilisation grids (you're welcome!), pathways and patios stay stable, water-permeable, and effortlessly stylish.

Revisiting Nadine's projects reminds us that sustainable landscaping isn't just a trend, it is a meaningful way to create lasting beauty and biodiversity in our gardens. Whether you are drawn to gravel pathways, wildlife-friendly plants, or innovative features like insect habitats and hedgehog holes, these gardens prove you can create spaces that work for you and our planet.

So ditch the artificial grass. Don't turn your garden into a space without natural grass, plants, trees and insects - embrace a garden that's good for the environment!