Those who have a fairly large garden very often dream of creating a path inside it where they can stroll, relax and think, perhaps with benches and seats hidden in the bushes or even simply a practical way to reach a service gate at the back.
In most cases it is an easy and decidedly inexpensive intervention if it is carried out in an intelligent way, combining the aesthetic result and a criterion for selecting the materials suitable for the type of soil in the garden.
Building a driveway or path requires some small precautions and above all a good design, which can be entrusted to a specialized company, or even done with pen and paper and a little imagination to visualize the result.
For this type of intervention, unless large concrete constructions are made, particularly complex works or requests for permits in the Municipality are not required.
If it is a question of simply laying slabs, there is no need to ask for the construction site to be opened. In this case, it is enough to have a nice pair of sturdy and safety shoes, gloves and maybe someone to give us a hand.
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What are the best ideas for transforming the garden into a beautiful path to do in meditation and those that require less maintenance? Before starting, you need to understand what the starting conditions of the garden are, to get an idea of which types of paths are most suitable.
If we are on the flat and the ground is dense enough, you will certainly have more freedom than a sloping courtyard or one that has to deal with a hilly park, even if this could offer many points for the development of ideas.
In any case, it is better to avoid the paths that follow too convoluted paths, which are pleasant at first, but quickly become annoying, preferring soft curves and straight sections.
Furthermore, it is advisable to keep a certain distance from other elements such as walls and sprinklers, because otherwise, it could become uncomfortable to follow the path for a meditative walk, While, if possible, it should be used to reach fountains, benches, and secluded corners, perhaps with a detour that he sees it disappear behind a hedge.
The first step, absolutely mandatory after having made the general design of the path, is to prepare the garden so that the project becomes reality. It is necessary to check that the ground, if it is covered with slabs or other solid materials, does not become muddy because otherwise the individual elements of the walkway will eventually sink and move, sometimes becoming quite dangerous.
In this case, if you choose to place slabs in concrete, stone, terracotta, or other materials, it will be necessary to dig four-finger deep containment trays, to be filled with sand for more stability, perhaps with a gravel base. However, these are very simple interventions and that can be done in DIY with a spade or a hoe or you can take guidance from Garden landscaping companies in dubai
If the ground is particularly soft, it may also be necessary to put stones under the slabs to give stability, creating a plane of wedges that stick more and more each time they are stepped on.
Ideas for the garden path
Once the ground has been prepared for the path, it’s time to get to work. Let’s see what are some beautiful and easy routes to do in a few hours without the need for too many tools, even if having someone give us a hand is useful.
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Cobblestone path
This is definitely the easiest of all. You need a wheelbarrow and lots of gravel of the kind you prefer. It can be a large white marble cobblestone, or the smaller and more irregular one, of lava stone, granite, or any other type of stones, even those taken from the river.
Simply trace the path with a trail of powdered chalk and then cover it with about two fingers of gravel. In this way, you can be sure that the underlying layer will sink just enough for it to become stable and ensure good walkability, without the pebbles going off all over the place.
If you choose to make a path with very large pebbles, however, two factors must be taken into consideration. The first is that it will be quite uncomfortable to walk on them, even if they are round and the second is that you need to add an additional layer of thinner gravel or sand because otherwise, the stones will end up sinking badly.
With this solution, however, you have total freedom to follow any type of path, because you are not bound by the size of the slabs, and a modification during construction does not require much effort
Path of slabs
The realization of this type of path is more complicated than the pebbles, because if the slabs are very small it will be necessary to cement them, so there will be a rather invasive intervention in the garden.
If, on the other hand, really large elements are used, above 30 cm per side, these will be rather stable due to their great weight and it will be possible to make a rather free path, but always with curves with a very large radius, unless having a good tile or stone cutter or grinder with a diamond saw at your disposal and plenty of time to adapt them.
The tiles or slabs can be installed detached from each other and without connection or concreted or surrounded with a gravel frame. This last solution, in fact, in addition to making everything more stable and preventing the infiltration of moisture that creates mud under the slab, also helps to reduce the radius of curvature.
In fact, it offers a little more freedom without the need to exceed distances. In any case, it is always advisable to place the slabs on a layer of draining sand that prevents the mud from making everything slippery.
It can be made using slabs of grit and cement, concrete, stone, or even granite or more porous such as sandstone. And do you know how to pave the garden without concrete? And if you want you can also use resin or plastic elements already equipped on the lower face with elements that help stabilization such as grids and spikes, choosing between models that imitate natural materials and more particular ones for a decidedly exotic garden.
Brick path
Very demanding and suitable for a small park or a connecting path, it can however be adapted very easily to obtain a beautiful path even in a relatively large garden. It basically involves using flat bricks to create a walkway. However, this requires a good joint to make them wedge and stay in place, as well as the construction of side curbs.
Compared to other solutions, the required budget is decidedly demanding, because this type of installation cannot be used to make a path that is too long without spending a lot and digging a trench where to put the bricks to make them wedge. Maintenance, then, quite frequently requires adding sand to fill the cracks between the bricks and make them more stable.
Biodynamic path
Inexpensive and very easy to make, it is created simply by filling the path with mulch wood chips, i.e. wood made into very small and irregular pieces, mixed with sawdust. This offers the advantage of a path that grows over time and in which grass develops, but at the same time forces certain parts to be replaced every one or two years, because wood rots in the long run.
On the other hand, however, the disposal of the old path is extremely easy, because it is enough to move it to the side and bury it for it to become compost. In many cases, then, instead of removing the old wood chips, new ones are added and, when stepped on, it stabilizes by itself.
However, it may be useful to add a little sand to promote compaction and sometimes a little desiccant to reduce regrowth.
Green path
A little more fragile than other solutions, with the installation of a green path you just have to choose to make grass that resists trampling or moss along its path. For example, the one used for soccer fields is fine, which has been selected to be very resistant to walking, or other smaller ones such as alpha-alpha that grow a little in height, but very quickly, allowing it to be renewed continuously.
To make the carpet more stable and better resist trampling, a plastic grid is usually installed that sinks into the ground and which also helps to walk better, because it offers a little resistance to slipping, creating small cells where plants grow. without the risk of being torn every time you walk over them and which are also perfect if you choose to grow moss instead of grass.
The big downside is that this trail is that it requires a lot of maintenance and in the summer if not properly cared for dry. For this reason, it is always advisable to put under a layer of expanded clay which helps to preserve moisture and limits the depth of the roots.
Dirt path
Surely it is the easiest economic solution ever because it is enough not to grow the plants where you want to walk, possibly without using the herbicide, but by burying sand or stones a few centimeters below the walkable surface to discourage the roots.
Of alone
It is preferred to use a path not made directly with the earth on which the herbs and bushes of the rest of the garden grow, but replacing it with soil more hostile to plant growth such as hygroscopic sand, expanded clay, or other similar materials.
The simple trampling will keep it in position even if there will be occasionally to eliminate some seedlings that emerge despite our intervention. This path should be made in winter if possible using a hand press to compact the earth because in this season with the rain the clayey mud will mix better, becoming harder and in summer it will not make too much dust.
In good weather, if it doesn’t rain very often, however, it is advisable to wet the path from time to time and follow it with shoes that are not too aggressive to compact it a bit, eliminating the weeds before they spread.
Lava stone path
Surely with a strong scenic impact, it is easy to make. A lava stone path also has the great advantage of being very hostile to plants due to the hardness of the soil and the fact that flaky lava is not very suitable for cultivation and growth. The one on the market has been cleaned of all nutrients and is sterile.
The main advantage is that this path, when you walk on it, becomes more and more stable precisely because the rugged surface of the lava sticks and sticks very well to the ground, making it practically stable forever.
The main problem is that you cannot walk on them barefoot and that puts a strain on leather shoes because even if softened with a little sand, it is still an extremely sharp and hard material, not suitable for dogs and children.
Plank path
If the ground is particularly soft, the path can be built using chestnut or elm sleepers that are particularly resistant to moisture or treated fir. You can easily find versions with single elements or ready-made and fixed boards, usually about seventy centimeters long and fifty centimeters wide, but there are many variations.
This type of path, however, if possible should be detached from the ground and mounted on wedge-shaped wooden dowels to prevent there being too much humidity and that they can rot quickly. Below they should be filled with sand or gravel, again to limit the effects of climate and bad weather and to discourage the beetle larvae.
The economic version, on the other hand, is made with elements of OSB, a type of chipboard for construction sites, or by obtaining the individual boards from pallets, even if it takes a lot of free time to prepare everything.
The costs of the driveway in the garden
Do you know how much it costs to tile 20 square meters of the garden for example or a small and simple garden? It is not very expensive. If you want to know the costs of setting up a path in the garden by a professional, complete with a certified guarantee, feel free to contact us using the contact form on our contact page for a quote.