Garden path base: effective paving methods

Paving paths for dry mix, crushed stone, concrete screed

Many of us will have to make new garden paths this year. The material can be different: paving stones, flagstone, homemade paving slabs… Whichever material we choose, it must be laid on a prepared base.

In this article, we will look at several popular DIY methods for making garden path bases at FORUMHOUSE:

• Dry mix paving;
• Paving paths on gravel;
• Paving the path on the sand;
• Paving a path on a concrete screed.

Paving a garden path with a dry mix

Most of the garden paths and playgrounds are laid on the basis described by FORUMHOUSE participant, landscape designer Svetlana Chizhova. This is the order in which the work should be done:

• A "trough" is dug, the depth is 20-30 cm.
• Sand is poured into the bottom for leveling in a layer of about 5 cm.
• Crushed stone is poured onto the sand, the layer thickness is about 15 cm.
• The crushed stone is compacted with a manual rammer. It can be made with a 100x100 mm bar or a metal head attached to the log. A rammer will make the base of the garden path more solid, durable, not prone to "walking".
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• The compacted crushed stone is covered with sand, the layer thickness is 10 cm. Make sure that the sand spills into the rubble layer, this will give the base strength. It is better to spill the sand with water before backfilling, then it can better fill the voids remaining in the rubble.
• The sand is compacted with a rammer, then poured again and rammed again.
• On this layer we pour a layer of dry mixture (1 part of cement to 4 parts of sand) 5 or 6 cm thick.

The base is ready: we lay tiles, stone and other materials on it. For greater strength, lay the outermost row on top of the mortar.

The extreme row must be placed on the mortar. This will give the edge strength.

Svetlana Chizhova

Participant FORUMHOUSE

When the paving is finished, scatter the dry mixture over the surface of the walkway and use a long-handled brush to notice in the gaps between the tiles. Sweep excess mixture off the paving and pour over with water. Repeat this procedure until all seams are filled to the top.

In practice, many members of our portal lay geotextiles between layers of sand and gravel.

Stefi

FORUMHOUSE member

Geotextiles are laid so that sand and crushed stone do not go into the ground.

Paving a garden path on the sand

The famous for the entire FORUMHOUSE garden path made of homemade paving slabs, made by a user with a nickname Just grandfather, laid on a sandy base. Such bases are considered unstable, but thanks to well-compacted sand, the tiles have been holding for several years.

A sandy base for paving a path is made for paths that will not experience a lot of stress and is performed as follows:

• We remove the top layer of sod from the area of ​​the future site;
• We fill in a layer of coarse river sand 10-12 cm thick;
• The sand is well leveled and spilled with water from a watering can or a hose with a spray, so that about 10 liters of water are needed for each meter of the base;
• We compact the sand with a manual rammer. 5. We lay geotextiles;
• Add a new layer of sand and level it well.

The base is ready, you can lay tiles or other material.

The distance between the elements depends on whether you want grass to grow between them. If not, then it should not be more than 3 mm, otherwise this distance can be increased. At the end of the paving, fine sand is swept into the cracks between the tiles with a broom or a brush, the path is poured from a watering can.

To extend the life of paths with such a base, especially if they are made of paving slabs, a curb will greatly help.

Beautiful garden path  it will turn out if the gaps between the tiles are filled with a mixture of sand, fertile soil and lawn grass.

valtar

The seams were covered with a mixture of fertile soil, sand and seeds of Lilliput lawn grass. In the photo, the result is a month after sowing the grass, now the grass looks more vigorous. Everything has settled down, the stones do not stagger, it is a pleasure to walk. We will continue to do so.

And the base of the tracks Just Grandpa made of two types of sand, because they have an important, invisible to the ordinary eye function: they work as drainage grooves. In the spring, water always did not leave the site of our user for a long time, so he dug grooves in place of future tracks, making the necessary slope.

Just grandfather

FORUMHOUSE member

Then I filled them with two types of sand: I put clean river sand (washed by nature itself) on the bottom, and sand with a noticeable clay content from another quarry on top. The bottom layer of sand is very loose and conducts water well, while the top layer is quite dense and well compacted.

Paving a garden path on gravel

When the remains of a coniferous tree, pine, and even more larch remain from the construction site, you can use these boards and saw cuts to make a wonderful garden path.

Member of our portal with a nickname Victoria Dachnaya believes that the best option in this case will be temporary wooden "mats", which for the winter will be removed under the shed.

Victoria Dachnaya

Due to the fact that wood (and processed wood too!) Perfectly absorbs moisture, these removable mats are always placed on a drainage base. A compacted rubble embankment will be good.

The crushed stone base is also made for paths from paving stones and other materials.

Here's how it's done:

• We put a synthetic geogrid on a previously prepared bed, cleaned of plant roots;
• We pour a layer of crushed stone 15-20 cm thick;
• We level, if required, create the necessary slope;
• We carry out crushed stone compaction;
• If curbs are provided, dig trenches under them, which are also filled with a layer of rubble, tamped, leveled;
• We fix the curbs with cement mortar;
• Pour 5-10 cm of dry mixture onto the crushed stone.

After paving, fill the joints with dry mixture and carefully, so as not to wash it, pour water over the path from the watering can.

Paving a path on a concrete screed

Tiles on concrete in garden paths are usually laid only in difficult cases, when the soil on the site is peat, silty sand or other, which is characterized by shrinkage. A more common reason for paving on a concrete screed is heaving soils, which, unevenly swelling on different sections of the track, can destroy the pavement.

Balrog

FORUMHOUSE member

There are about 50 m of paths, limestone. In the spring they turned into some kind of quicksand. The slabs were placed in places on dry mix, and in places on mortar. So the solution looks better and withstood longer, although these figures told me that according to the rules it is necessary to put on the mixture.

Here's how to make a concrete base for a garden path:

• Crushed stone is poured onto the prepared base, the layer thickness is from 10 to 20 cm;
• Crushed stone is rammed;
• Formwork is made from pegs and boards, the recommended distance between the stakes is 60-100 cm, the width of the board is at least 40 cm;
• The concrete mixture is laid out, the thickness of the mixture is 5-15 cm;
• If we make reinforcement, then we divide the concrete layer into two parts: we lay 3 cm of the mixture, put the road mesh, fill it with concrete;
• We form the necessary bias;
• We make curbs: we dig trenches, also fill them with rubble, pour concrete mixture with a layer of 1.5 cm, attach curbs to it;
• Fill in a layer of dry mixture (3 cm), lay tiles, paving stones, etc. on it.

As with the construction of other paths, we pour the dry mixture into the seams and carefully spill it with water.

Qwertyr

FORUMHOUSE member

I took river sand, not quarry, and crushed stone - granite, not lime. However, all over the site, even in the rain, I walk in beach slippers, and the neighbors who giggled: "the concrete worker" carried clay on their boots through their areas.

Helpful stuff? Support, like!

Read our article that comprehensively talks about the construction paths from paving slabs. Read, how to quickly repair a garden path and how to make quality paving tiles with your own hands. Watch our video, which tells how they are arranged on the site near Moscow simple walking path and illuminated garden path.

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