If you want to make a personal plot more well-groomed, then it can be supplemented with a garden path. It will carry not only a practical function, but will also have an aesthetic value. You will be able to form a common ensemble and combine all the buildings on the site. The territory can be zoned with the help of a path, highlighting functional zones, including: outbuildings, flower beds, a recreation area and a vegetable garden.
If the garden path is correctly laid, then you can correct the shortcomings and inaccuracies of landscape design. There are several factors to consider when planning. Firstly, the base material should easily tolerate seasonal temperature fluctuations. Secondly, the track should be easy to care for. Thirdly, it must be resistant to corrosion, rot, mold and mildew.
It is extremely important to plan ahead if the track is crossed by cars. It is necessary to make this part of the suburban exterior space with some bias so that rain water does not accumulate on the canvas. If you have to work in a small area, then the path should not be made rectangular, because bends and turns will add space and depth.
Material selection
Before you make a garden path, you must select the material. Among the most common options, natural stone should be highlighted. He looks status, is noble, but very expensive. In return, you get an almost perpetual coating, which is provided by the high strength of the material. You can use artificial stone, which conveys the aesthetics, texture and beauty of the natural, but is cheaper and easier to install.
Before starting work, you should consider a photo of garden paths. With your own hands in this case, you can build one of them, choosing a design to taste. Among the images presented, you can see the brick paths. It will be based on its special variety, which is also called brick clinker. You can use ordinary silicate / red brick. Use white is not worth it, as it quickly disintegrates in the ground.
The most common solution is paving slabs. It is popular for the reason that it is characterized by high strength, frost resistance and durability. Products can have a different texture, shape and shade, which allows the master to show imagination. Laying can be done in mosaics, forming patterns and patterns.
The manufacture of garden paths is quite often carried out also by the bulk method. For this, the following materials are used:
- crushed stone;
- pebbles;
- gravel;
- sand;
- wood chips.
For this, a large amount of consumable should be used, because over time it will shrink. This option is unlikely to be suitable for the central alley. But at the reservoir, the beds and between the beds, the soft path will look perfect. It fits well into the wild.
One of the available solutions is wood, but it is short-lived. Usually, larch is used for these purposes, which only gets stronger from moisture. It retains the integrity of the structure longer than other trees. Cloths can be made of logs or boards, but the cover made of saw cuts looks especially cozy and picturesque.
An excellent alternative is concrete imitation. After reviewing the photos of garden paths, you can find concrete filling options. They are represented by finished plates. On sale there is also garden parquet, which is represented by a plastic variety or decking.
Such material provides for the presence of a substrate on which wooden plates are attached. Externally, the coating looks wooden. It holds its original form, does not swell, does not curl and does not accumulate moisture, showing resistance to the external environment. It’s easy to look after a garden parquet, for this it is enough to water it from a hose.
Creating a concrete pavement
Making garden paths with your own hands, at the first stage you will have to choose the technology of the work. If you do not want to be wise, then you should choose a monolithic concrete coating, which is characterized by high strength. You can refine the plates by decorating them with colored mosaics, ceramics or ceramic tiles.
At the first stage, it is necessary to determine the length and width of the track, delving 10 cm into the soil. The bottom is covered with sand, the layer thickness will be 6 cm. The substrate is compacted and watered. For the length of the pit, it is necessary to install frames that are knocked out of plywood or wood. Between them, a distance of 7 cm should be maintained.
The width of the track will determine the width of the frame. The most convenient and optimal size of the frame will be the parameter 60 x 60 cm. At the next stage, you can start concreting using the mortar. As soon as it dries a little, decorative elements are laid on top, for which you can use a regular shell rock. Once the track is completely dry, which will happen in about 3 days, the ground between the plates can be planted with unpretentious plants for the lawn.
Using boards
Before you start making a garden path with your own hands, you must choose the material. They may be wood. Such a coating rises slightly above the ground and hardens on strong bars, which are pre-treated with rotting compound.
The bars are installed on a layer of gravel, the thickness of which is 6 cm. Gravel is pre-aligned along the length of the bed. The flooring should not be done close to each other - between the boards a distance of 2 cm should be maintained, which will ensure their ventilation. The track due to this will be ready to last longer.
Using wood chocks
The garden path can be made of wood chocks, which are cross sections of thick trees. They are pre-treated with an antiseptic, which will eliminate rot. A trench is prepared according to the previously designated bed of the track. It must be deepened by 6 cm more than the height of wooden chocks.
The bed is covered with gravel at 3 cm, the next layer will be sand of the same thickness. The preparation is compacted and watered abundantly with water. Chocks are placed as densely as possible in the bed. After this, the gaps are covered with gravel, which is pre-mixed with sand. The surface is again watered abundantly with water. On this we can assume that the garden path is ready. It is important to level the chocks in height using a sledgehammer.
Shape Coating
Using pre-made forms of polystyrene, which can be found on sale, you can perform a coating in the garden. Four identical forms should be purchased, the cost of one of which will be from 900 to 1,200 rubles. At the first stage, it is necessary to determine the width and location of the track using pegs and a rope. Similar shapes easily adjoin each other, and their size is usually 60 x 60 cm, which is enough for a narrow path. If the width of the garden path is larger and will be 1.2 m, then the two forms must be folded across in the box.
Now a shovel is used, with which it is necessary to dig a trench, deepening it by 10 cm. The earth is densified well, for which it is better to use a vibrator to compact the soil. You can act manually, but more effort is required. A layer of crushed stone and pebbles is poured into the trench, the thickness should be 4 cm. A 6-centimeter layer of river sand will be located on top. Before laying the mold, sand is well poured with water from a hose, at the end of which it is necessary to put on a spray.
Forms are lubricated with machine oil, for lack of it you can use ordinary vegetable oil. The formwork is installed on wet sand, then you can do the preparation of the solution. It will consist of three parts of sand, parts of cement and 4 parts of crushed stone. For the foundation, you need to add a binder mixture, adding water. The solution should find the consistency of thick sour cream.
In order for the track to shine, pigment is added to the ingredients. At the next stage, you can begin to fill out the forms to the brim, it is important to exclude the formation of air bubbles. Excess solution is removed, during which a plastic rail will help. For these purposes, it is possible to make iron.
After 40 minutes, the solution will set, which will allow you to carefully remove the forms and use them for a repeated pouring procedure. The garden path will look more impressive if the concrete is decorated with granite, a battle of colored tiles, as well as beautiful pebbles. Ornaments are pressed into non-hardened cement. One of the phases of work is the protection of products from external influences. While the solution is completely dry, it will take 3 days. This is true if the weather is sunny.
Varieties of plastic tiles
Plastic garden paths have become more and more common lately. They can be classified into three types, namely:
- lawn grate;
- garden parquet;
- modular coatings.
Garden parquet, as mentioned above, is also called decking and consists of four boards. It is based on wood flour and polyvinyl chloride. The shield provides for the presence of two layers, the upper of which just consists of plastic and flour. Bottom is polyvinyl chloride. But the lawn grill is used for installation on the same areas.
The design is cellular and allows you to strengthen the soil without interfering with the growth of grass. It is convenient to get to a flower bed on such a coating, it maintains the appearance of the lawn and usually has a green color that harmonizes well with the grass. This tile has excellent drainage properties and is inexpensive.
The garden path can be represented by a modular plastic coating, which is versatile. The colors and shapes of such products are diverse. The main advantages of these coatings are the simplicity and ease of assembly, as well as the speed of dismantling.
Laying plastic tiles
Before laying plastic tiles, you need to determine the direction of the track and mark the length with pegs and twine. The width will depend on the size of the tile. If you want to stack two products, the width will be equal to the corresponding value of the two products. The entire length of the coating should be removed soil, deepening by 20 cm maximum. This will allow you to get a shallow pit. Its bottom is well inspected in order to remove plants and roots.
Drain pipes should be installed on the side. At the bottom is a layer of sand that is moistened and well compacted. Following this technology, you can lay your own garden path with your own hands at low cost. It is also important to consider the ease of installation, because plastic products are equipped with locks. Legs are located on one side, while staples are on the other. The foot is inserted into the bracket until it clicks. Laying is done in separate sections.
As soon as the entire tile is laid, it must be crushed. It is important to monitor alignment. You can use a level for this. If the track will have turns, then the bend can be done using a jigsaw, sawing off the extra parts of the tile. The coating is formed by a border that should protrude 5 cm above the surface. If the tile does not fit tightly on the border, then the free space can be filled with plastic cuttings or cement.
If you plan to use garden parquet in your work, then you should form a foundation screed. It is laid in a layer of 3 cm. The material is left to solidify, only then you can start laying tiles for the garden path. The easiest way to install a lawn grate. It is located directly on the ground and is filled with fertile soil. From above, everything is poured with water and left to shrink.
The voids should be covered with a substrate with grass seeds. If the coating will be used seasonally, the soil surface must be leveled and laid on top of the tile, well taking it. By winter, such a track is dismantled, and in the spring it is laid again.
About the features of using film
If you decide to use saw cuts as the main material for the track, then it is recommended to pre-treat them with drying oil, which is brought to a boil. Such a treatment after drying is carried out again. Additionally, you can apply a film for garden paths. It is laid on a sand pillow. In this case, you exclude contact of wood with the ground, due to this the material rots less.
But this approach can provoke moisture accumulation. In order to eliminate unpleasant consequences, under the future path from the earth it is necessary to form gentle arches. Before backfilling gravel, the soil should be treated with herbicides so that the coating does not overgrow with weeds. For this, a film or agrofiber is used.
Self-made mold
If you want to make the track budget, then you can do the production of forms for it yourself. As one of the options is the formwork of wooden blocks. For this, products with dimensions equal to 50 x 50 mm are used. They are in the amount of 4 pieces fastened together so as to obtain a frame. For reliability of fixation, it is necessary to use grooves that are sawn in opposite bars. For the same purpose, you can use sheet steel, which will act as staples. They are located at the junction of the bars and are fixed with screws.
Creating a form for a garden path, you can use a sheet of plywood or iron as the material of the bottom. On the surface of the tile, these details look interesting. When using shapes of impressive dimensions, the tiles are reinforced with a metal mesh. The form can also be made of sheet iron. If you have a wooden barrel tightened with iron hoops, you can use them to imitate natural stone. The metal bends to form a garden path. With a shortage of hoops, the formwork can be made of galvanized iron. 5-centimeter strips are cut out of it, and the ends are bent with a hammer according to the principle of a roof fold.
Final clearance
If you want to make the track finished, then it should be supplemented with borders or a fence. These elements will resist grass overgrowth if this process is undesirable. Using these elements, you can extend the life of the coating.
But it is important to ensure that this element matches the appearance of the track. Among the main varieties of borders, it is worth highlighting those that are made of: plastic, concrete, wood and brick.
The contour of the track can be fixed using plastic elements. Concrete is used for landscape-style plots. Perfectly suited for rustic areas with wooden borders. For a country style or an English garden, it is better to use brick elements.