landscaping

I brushed fresh jointing sand between my patio slabs every spring just to keep it neat: the day I lifted one slab, I saw what I had been feeding for years

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I brushed fresh jointing sand between my patio slabs every spring just to keep it neat: the day I lifted one slab, I saw w...

For a decade, I maintained my patio’s neat joints with fresh sand each spring. The day I lifted one rocking slab, I discovered an elaborate ant colony thriving beneath my feet—a hidden metropolis I’d been unknowingly supplying with building materials every single year.

The Hidden Cost of Salt on Paving: How Annual Weed Control Destroys Your Garden Foundation

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The Hidden Cost of Salt on Paving: How Annual Weed Control Destroys Your Garden Foundation

For years, gardeners have trusted salt to kill weeds between paving slabs—and it works beautifully above ground. But beneath the surface, a destructive chemical process is silently turning the sand foundation into useless mush, and the damage compounds with every season.