Permeable paved surfaces allow rain water to pass through them, reducing the volume of water that runs off the surface.

Last week Andy and I went to visit the permeable patio we installed last year at Ingebretsen's Gifts.

The plants that Julie Ingebretsen installed in the rain garden are growing nicely and the rain garden is performing quite well.  Unfortunately, small areas of the permeable patio under the downspouts were not allowing water to flow through.

The granite between the pavers in a permeable patio is called a "choker course" of granite because it is meant to trap any small debis and keep it from getting under the pavers and causing larger problems.  In that sense the choker course at Ingebretsen's was working very well.  Paint chips falling from a wall as well as dirt washing down the downspouts had plugged the spaces between the pavers in an area of about four square feet.  The debris had been kept in the top inch of granite.

Luckily this can be addressed fairly easily.  When the patio is dry, you might try to loosen the granite with a screwdriver or other small hand tool and clean out the debris with a shop vac.  Granite sucked up by the shop vac could be washed clean and put back.  Or you could use the same screwdriver to pick the granite out from between the pavers.  This might take a couple of hours.

Maintenance is important to keeping a permeable surface in good operational condition.