A beautiful garden path ennobles any site. It is she who gives it a well-groomed and elegant look, emphasizing the originality and beauty of a small pond, rosary or garden. The central avenue of pavers or bricks, a fabulous path made of natural stone always look aesthetically pleasing and picturesque. Walking on them is a pleasure. At the same time, it is not difficult to make them. Consider how to equip a stone path with your own hands.
Material selection
What to make a track from? This is the first question the landlord is faced with. A wide variety of materials can be used to make tracks. Most often, the owners choose a stone for the paths in the country. After all, such material allows you to create a stylish and beautiful alley.
Tracks are made from:
- simple gravel;
- sandstone and limestone;
- granite;
- pavers;
- multi-colored pebbles.
It is the last material that allows you to get amazing tracks that compare favorably with beautiful patterns.
The most popular natural stone for the tracks. After all, it has unique shades and shapes. Thanks to this, the tracks become beautiful and unique.
To determine the choice of material, consider the advantages and disadvantages of some of them.
Natural stone
This is the most successful material. Today, the following natural stone for paths is most often used.
- Granite The stone contains in its composition field twine, mica, quartz. Its distinctive characteristics: high strength, resistance to moisture, frost. It perfectly withstands up to 200 thawing-freezing cycles. In addition, it has a variety of colors, starting with a gray tint and ending with a dark red palette. This is the most preferred natural stone for paths in the country.
- Slates . Such rocks have a layered structure. That is why such a stone is most often found in the form of plates. Most shales have porosity. Therefore, the material needs additional processing with special compounds. Quartzite slate is closest to granite in terms of operational properties. It is he who is most often used for paving paths.
- Shungite . Such a natural stone is a good option for decorating the site. Laminated and monolithic material is found. The latter has a whole list of advantages. This is a high density and strength, resistance to frost, chemical attack, abrasion. But its color palette will not please with variety. Shungite can be black or various shades of gray. Sometimes there are inclusions of pyrite or quartz in the stone. They provide amazing surface veins in golden or white.
- Sandstone . This stone is very popular, as well as granite. But sandstone is somewhat inferior to it in hardness, although it also belongs to durable materials. It is easy to process. Due to this property, it is easy to give the stone the necessary shape. Sandstone will delight with a variety of colors of light yellow, pink, gray-green, fawn.
- Quartzite . This is a quartz slate containing mica. It is characterized by high hardness and strength. Such properties create serious difficulties when processing stone. Usually the material is reddish, white, gray or greenish. In addition, its shade varies depending on the lighting. It is durable and surprisingly beautiful, so it is often used to pave tracks.
Fake diamond
Of course, traditionally used natural material for the tracks. But modern technology allows us to produce artificial stone for paths with excellent characteristics and high decorative properties. The material has a variety of colors and can mimic any pattern.
Clinker is especially popular. It is a high strength, dense material. If you choose the right clinker, then the tracks from it, borders, walls look neat and very stylish.
Benefits of Using Natural Stone
Why is it most often natural material chosen ? This preference is due to a number of advantages.
Stone garden paths differ:
- security
- environmental friendliness (natural material does not emit as a result of temperature differences of chemicals);
- high wear resistance;
- strength (stone is not exposed to deformations under the influence of various climatic changes);
- aesthetic appearance.
The only drawback of natural stone is its high cost. That is why, when planning to equip paths made of stone with their own hands, they most often choose natural flagstone. This material is not expensive. In addition, it is convenient to use, since it has a large thickness and a rough surface.
Paving Methods
The laying of the stone depends entirely on the purpose of the future path and the construction of the foundation. There are several ways to pave.
You can lay out stone tracks with your own hands on the following grounds:
- sand;
- gravel;
- concrete (reinforced).
The usual garden path does not provide for serious loads. Therefore, to equip such paths, you can make a base of sand. It is recommended to choose a flagstone of the largest possible size with a thickness of 5-8 cm for such a track.
If the alley is intended for heavy use, it is best to choose gravel for the base. The same design is recommended for paths that are equipped on clay soils. In this case, a large and medium stone is selected, the thickness of which is 4-6 cm.
If you are planning an access road or parking area, it is recommended to resort to the use of concrete, since such alleys must withstand maximum loads. When choosing a stone for this track, it is better to prefer a material whose thickness is 2-3 cm.
Preparatory stage
Before you consider how to make a path from stones, you need to stock up on a tool. And carefully prepare the material for work.
For construction, you need the simplest set of tools that any owner will find:
- Master OK;
- roulette;
- Bulgarian;
- shovel;
- pegs;
- cord;
- tamper;
- watering hose;
- building level;
- metal brush;
- boards for the manufacture of formwork.
In addition to natural stone, materials will be needed:
- water;
- cement;
- gravel;
- sand.
Before using, limestone must be prepared. Natural stone must be thoroughly washed and dried. Then, in order to further facilitate your work, you need to sort the material by shape and thickness.
If strongly protruding elements are found on the stone, it is recommended to cut them off with a grinder.
Paving paths on the sand
Having finished with all the preparations, you can begin construction. However, it should be recalled once again that such laying of stone on the paths is not designed for heavy loads.
A step-by-step instruction will greatly help in arranging.
- Using a cord and pegs, mark the boundaries of the site. Accordingly, initially consider what the purpose of this track is. Depending on it, determine the length and width of the path.
- Dig a trench for marking. It should be fully consistent with the site. The depth of the trench exceeds the thickness of the stone by 5 centimeters.
- Be sure to level the surface. To do this, use watering from a hose with a spray. Then apply tamper.
- Pour sand into the trench. Level the surface.
- Limestone stack butt. Between the stones we allow a gap of not more than 1-2 cm.
- The resulting seams should be covered with sand. This will protect the path from vegetation sprouting.
Gravel footpath
This design is also not very complex. Consider how to lay a stone path.
- Initially, you should outline the territory. The following sizes are recommended: a pedestrian path - not less than 80 square meters. see, front door - 3 m.
- Dig a trench along pre-designated pegs. Its depth is 20-30 cm. Just as described above, level the surface and compact the soil.
- Along the walls of a dug trench, curb blocks must be installed. You can use the formwork of the boards. They should be fastened together using self-tapping screws. Top construction is covered with a primer.
- Geotextiles are laid. This will protect the track from unwanted vegetation.
- A “pillow” is poured into the trench, which contains the same layer of sand, gravel. Its thickness is approximately 30 cm.
- The layer is watered. Rammed.
- Now you can lay flagstone. It is recommended to leave a minimum gap between the stones.
- All seams are carefully filled with sand. You can add a little crushed stone.
- If the track will be used frequently, it is recommended to apply a thin layer (2-3 cm) of thin concrete on top. Such a layer will protect it from premature aging.
Laying stone on a concrete base
This is the most versatile way. After all, stone paths made by this method with their own hands are distinguished by high endurance and are able to withstand any load.
Progress is as follows.
- Initially, it is necessary to install the formwork.
- A gravel pillow is laid out on the ground. Reinforcing mesh is placed.
- Further, the entire structure is poured with concrete mortar. The layer should not exceed 20-30 cm. Be sure to level the surface. There should be no drops.
- After the concrete has dried, you can proceed to laying the stone. Limestone is attached to a special glue. If you plan to draw on the track, then it must be laid out in advance.
Important tip
Regardless of which of the methods for laying the track was chosen, be sure to provide a slight inclination of the surface. Enough angle of 3 degrees. Such a surface will provide easy drainage of water.