We make paths for the garden plot with our own hands

Many amateur gardeners dream of decorating and transforming their garden. Of course, the cost of landscape designer services, as well as the costs of purchasing building materials, hurt the wallet very painfully.

Therefore, it is worthwhile to dwell on the simpler and more accessible ways of arranging garden paths, which are not inferior to solutions of professional architects.

Ways of the device of garden paths

One of the many variants of classification, which in our case will be the most convenient, is based on the method of installing garden paths.

Garden trails

These are tracks that appear in a natural way with the regular movement of people to the same place. As a rule, these spontaneously appeared paths connect the most important and popular points on the site along the shortest path. Despite the fact that this is the cheapest version of the device of garden paths, which, by the way, is not difficult to improve by laying on the edges of a border of stones or paving slabs, the trails have some disadvantages. These include:

• dirt after rain;
• overgrowing with grass.
  

  pavement paved with stones

The garden path is most suitable for summer cottages located in dry places: uplands and sandstones. It is a path that has a base of some loose material: pebbles, gravel, marble chips, etc. Gardening bribes the simplicity of the device of such garden paths with their own hands:

1. Tear off the trench, the width of which is equal to the width of the path, to a depth of 10 centimeters.
2. The bottom and walls of the trench are laid with geotextiles, having a density of material from 150 g / m², and the walls, in addition, reinforced with curb tape.
3. After the trench fall asleep with the prepared material.

For decoration among the backfill, you can chaotically or in any order lay large stones or slabs, drowning them flush in the material used for backfilling.

Gravel Path

Preparing for the construction of their own hands the garden paths of gravel is carried out in a similar way to the preparation for the construction of the garden path. The main difference is that gravel is covered in a trench. With a certain amount of imagination, you can pick up different material by color, zoning tracks or simply decorating them.

Solid flood lanes

These are tracks with a relatively hard coating, which is capable of withstanding significant loads. They are lined over a concrete cushion by laying various decorative components: paving slabs, stone, etc. To diversify the decor, use multi-colored elements. To prevent erosion of the track with rainwater, during construction using wooden formwork, their level is raised to a height of 5-7 centimeters above the ground.

Planning the construction of garden paths with your own hands

Any construction begins with a plan (project), which prescribes a plan, a thorough study of the site and an analysis of the influence of surrounding factors on the object being built. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the soil density, its humidity, the presence of flood waters, the direction of rainwater runoff. It is not an exception to the rules and planning the device garden paths with their own hands.

Proceeding from the analysis, it is necessary to outline the direction of laying future garden paths, determine their length and width, determine the angles of the roadway for the drainage of rain and melt water, sketch on paper their appearance and manner of decoration.

When designing tracks, you should not forget about the following requirements for the materials used:

• they must be as stable as possible to the effects of precipitation, alternating temperatures, moisture, corrosive wear;
• to withstand without deformation enough weighty loads, for example, travel of moto- or cycling.

Creating your project, use the following advice from landscape designers: it’s better to build not straight, but undulating garden paths. They visually increase the space and give the opportunity to create niches for plants.

Marking on the ground

All serious construction work begins with the binding of the project to the terrain, for which it carries out appropriate marking. Particular care must be taken when using a material with a clear geometric pattern, for example, ready-made paving slabs or bricks. To save the traces on the track, the upper layer of the soil is removed.

To carry out the marking, pegs are driven into the ground, between which a cord is pulled. To visually, on the ground, to be sure of the correctness of the calculations carried out and the harmony of the resulting track, its borders are sprinkled with lime on the cords. To create a complete picture on the site, it is better to mark the location of flower beds, individual plants, garden trees at once, simultaneously with the paths, with conventional signs (plates, stones, lime). It is on the terrain that the gardener sees everything as it should be in reality and, possibly, will make some changes.

When marking, you should not forget that the trench for the track should be wider than it, since for a significant increase in the duration of service it will be fenced with curbs of stone or concrete.

Having completed the markup, you can start the excavation.

A garden path with own hands

“The simplicity of the work on the arrangement of garden paths allows them to be performed even for beginners”

The construction of a garden path by one’s own hands can be divided into two stages:

1. Substrate preparation.
2. Laying of pavement.

The base of the path is an analog of the foundation of the building. It is the high-quality performance of this work that will allow the path for many years to maintain its integrity.

According to the previously marked width and length, a trench is separated by a depth of at least 10 centimeters, taking into account the width of the path plus the allowance for the width of two curbs. The depth of separation does not allow to call it a trench, rather it looks like an earthen trough whose bottom is covered with a crushed stone, which is carefully rammed with the help of special devices, to a height of 3 cm. A layer of fine gravel is poured from above, which is covered with a pillow of sand.

By the stage of laying the roadway the builder is suitable, having already throughout the site yellow sandy paths. Elements of the coating – and this is tile, stone, bricks, other materials – rammed and adjusted to each other with a rubber mallet. From above, the sealant is poured – the sand that fills the cracks and gaps. Surplus sand from the floor is swept away.

Simplicity of work on the device of garden paths allows to carry out them even to beginners. The main thing – to include imagination, to show patience, and then the dacha section will be the object of pilgrimage of neighbors.

Materials used in construction

“A gardener who equips garden paths with his own hands, any improvised objects can go into action: boards, wood spills, river pebbles, stones, plastic bottles”

Variants of the device of garden paths in the country are a matter of taste and purse of each author. But, no matter what, we must not forget about the obligatory formation of a qualitative basis for the future pavement, on which it is not worth saving.

The most popular materials for paving:

• natural stone – a clot of solidity and nobility;
• artificial stone – faceted analogue of natural;
• brick – will give the opportunity of multi-colored design;
• uniqueness of the path will give the use of pebbles or gravel;
• wood – the most affordable, spectacular, but, alas, short-lived material;
• garden plastic parquet – decking, extremely resistant to the influence of adverse factors.

Exclusive appearance, decorative design entirely depend on the imagination of the author, who, by varying the ways of bookmarking, can give her a solid smooth texture or lay out the road surface in the form of any patterns.

At the gardener who equips garden paths with his own hands, any improvised objects can go into business: boards, wood spills, river pebbles, stones, plastic bottles.

Below are the options for using improvised materials.

A natural stone

The tracks from it harmoniously fit into the design on any site, and will look very impressive and presentable. With the observance of laying techniques, paved paths can honestly serve several generations.

Stones are collected on construction sites: for example, a lot of suitable material remains after the construction of alpine slides. Possessing chaotically broken, uneven edges, stones are the best material for the construction of a natural path, beautifully winding among garden bushes and trees.

The most difficult thing is to find, collect and deliver to the site the required amount of building material. After delivery it is necessary to make a rough layout of the stones, which will allow to estimate their quantity and create the necessary mosaic pattern. Further, with the help of an angle grinder, the stones are processed to more thoroughly fit them to each other, as well as grinding the upper side of the stone to a flat state.

Having created a pillow from sand and carefully rammed it, with the help of a rubber mallet make laying stones. After laying out the whole path, they begin grouting joints with cement-sand mortar.

Sandstone path

For the construction of such garden paths stones or laid dry, which is similar to technology with the laying of a path of stone, or apply a cement fill.

For laying the method of cement filling in the previously dug earth trough, sand is covered, and then it is rammed. And the middle part of the embankment should be above the edges, which will subsequently allow water to flow from the center to the edges of the path.

After proceeding to the processing of sandstone. It, like ordinary stone, can be of all shapes and sizes, so before processing each stone must be measured in place and, after processing with a Bulgarian, minimize the size of the gap between the elements. Under each stone on the sand cushion pour the mortar mixture with cement so that the cement slightly protrudes beyond the boundaries of the pillow. The laid stone is pressed firmly against the surface. Having laid several sandstones in this way, the masonry is washed to remove cement residues. Seams are filled with sand or soil.

Gravel path

It’s pretty neat, harmoniously fitting into almost any design garden paths that are easy to make by hand. Gravel is a natural material with good flowability. It consists of small stones with a diameter of up to 5 millimeters. Because of its round shape, gravel is good for moisture, in addition, it is relatively cheap.

Technology of creating a sidewalk of gravel:

• Carry out marking on the site with the help of pegs and cord.
• Preparation of “earth trough” depth of 14 – 17 centimeters.
• Preparation of gravel – removal of foreign objects, the largest stones, selection by color.
• Carrying back gravel into the trench and leveling it with rakes, and also with gloves.
• Careful tamping of the laid gravel.
• Laying the curb stone just above the level of gravel, fixing it with cement mortar.

Similarly, make and tracks of sand.

Garden paths made of bricks

Brick, despite its hardness, is a very fragile material, so each specimen needs to be checked for strength before laying.

Similarly, with the help of pegs and cord, the site is marked out. Then the ground is removed to a depth of 25 centimeters. The bottom of the “earthen trough” wakes up with drainage. Along the edges of the path, boards are laid sideways to prevent the scattering of crushed stone, which is poured out over the drainage, after which a brick is laid on top.

Using different colors of bricks, you can build interesting decorative compositions. At the device of brick garden paths there is a huge quantity of variants of decorating: from simple combination of colors to use of broken brick and brick crumb together with other materials.

Wooden walkways

The sidewalks made of wood look very good. This is the most budgetary option, since it allows you to use wooden products that have remained from the construction of the house. However, their service life is significantly inferior to other materials. To prolong the life of wooden paths, it is necessary to carry out a series of manipulations with wood to scare off insects and make the tree more moisture resistant. For example, treat them with protective impregnations, bitumen mastic, and finally, used engine oil.

The simplest way to build wooden garden paths with your own hands is to mount the bridges from the boards nailed to the bars. For beauty and to extend the service to the walkways, you can apply paint and varnish.

Path from a round timber

Round timber is a wooden cylinder, which is obtained by cross-cutting saw logs. Cutting is done very carefully, since the surface of the saw must be perfectly even. If necessary, the upper part is additionally polished. To reduce the gaps between rods in the manufacture of the sidewalk logs of different diameters are used. The height of the roundwood should be of the order of 20-26 centimeters.

Option number 1

Before installation in the previously dug and filled with compacted rubble foundation pit, the wood is treated with antiseptic, which protects against microorganisms and ground moisture, for which it is dipped for several minutes in a container with the drug. The rest of the surface is treated with a brush.

After processing, the blanks are thoroughly dried. After drying, the lower part of the stumps is dipped for a few seconds in the “Kuzbass lacquer” or heated bitumen, creating an additional waterproofing of the wood.

After completing all the preparatory procedures, proceed to the device of garden paths:

• At the beginning of the path near the transverse wall of the trench a little sand is poured;
• densely set a pre-selected first row of round timber so that the upper edge of the stumps would rise about half the ground level;
• Sand in the remaining cracks to the level of the soil;
• similarly put the next row of round timber;
• The procedure is repeated until they reach the end of the excavation, where the border from the sand is compacted.

Option number 2

When building a track, gravel or gravel is filled in instead of sand, while the round timber is used only as a curb. All the stages of work are exactly the same as in the case of using garden paths with the hands of a hemp working surface.

The technology is as follows:

• The bottom of the excavation is covered with sand, which is carefully rammed;
• along the edges of the trench densely set the logs and sprinkled them with sand, which is rammed at the base;
• the whole surface of the path is covered with geotextiles, the edges of which are placed on logs to a height of up to 10 centimeters;
• Geotextiles are covered with gravel or crushed stone of medium size, which is evenly distributed throughout the track at ground level. The material is on one side of the road surface, and on the other – a support for the curb of the round timber;
• The top cut of the round timber is painted with paint if desired.

Sidewalk of a round river stone

Very beautiful paths are obtained when using for the device garden paths river Altay stone. This decorative element has surprisingly beautiful shades, from light gray to gray-blue, has a rounded shape, smooth to the touch.

To manufacture the sidewalk you will need:

• the necessary number of different stones;
• clean sand;
• rubber hammer – mallet;
• cement;
• sponge;
• level;
• water.

The technology of conducting preparatory works is similar to the preparation for the construction of brick garden paths by oneself, only in this case it is necessary to sort out the stones, having eliminated the defective ones. If the flaw is not too evident, then when laying the stone, you can put the conditioning side up.

After that, the stones are laid out on the prepared on the width of the sidewalk picture.

Option number 1

• Having created a base of crushed stone on the bottom of the excavation, a drawing is put on it with a sketch of lime. It must be remembered that a mosaic of stones can easily crumble, so it must be supported with rims on all sides.
• Mixing the sand with cement in a proportion of 3: 1, add water and get a thick mixture, which is spread on the limestone pattern in the form of a border with a width equal to the size of the stone. These strips are not very long, so that they do not dry out, so it will be easier to equate pebbles in them.
• The stone of the oval form is laid on its side and pressed into the path from the solution. For alignment, you can use a rubber hammer.
• After the whole strip is laid out, it is necessary for the construction level to check its evenness by correcting the projecting parts with a hammer.
• Thus, row by row, checking the sketch, spread the entire path. Here you can combine the oval stones set on the edge with flat round ones, and even with the stones set vertically – but only if it does not disturb the created composition.
• When stacking, you can play with shades of stones, alternating their color in different strips or performing smooth color transitions.
• After completing the mosaic part, the result is watered using a fine sprayer. Water removes excess cement from the surface of the stones and strengthens the mortar.
• Thus, slowly, slowly spread out the entire area of ​​the garden path, seeking its dense filling with stones.

Option number 2

This is a simpler option, where you do without the use of cement mortar, and the stones are laid directly into the moistened sand. The reverse side of simplicity is the risk of destroying the composition, so it needs to be spread out in small parts.

For this, curbs are used, to which temporary partitions are mounted – analogues of wooden formwork, which can be removed by finishing part of the composition.

The technology of the device of garden paths with their own hands looks like this:

• The alignment and alignment of curbs and temporary partitions on the base with compacted crushed stone.
• Backfill the resulting sectors with wet sand, its ramming and leveling at a height of 2-3 centimeters below the formwork. This difference in height is needed to ensure that the upper surface of the stones was at the same level as the curbs.
• Laying stones in the path and their alignment with a rubber hammer and a level laid on the curbs. Periodic additional moistening of sand.
• Re-check the smoothness of the laying of stones before the sand dries, after which – fill the mosaic with dry sand or a mixture of sand and cement, and then sweep the surplus.
• Re-moistening the mosaic with a sprayer.
• Repeat the procedure with dry sand and moisturizing after a few hours, when the sand, drying out, will compact and fill the space between the stones.
• Wipe all the stones with a wet sponge after another drying.
• Wetting the whole mosaic daily for a week with water to form the required rigidity of the track.
• In addition, in order to avoid blurring of the sandy structure, it is desirable to cover the entire area of ​​the path with a thin foam rubber that passes through the moisture, but does not allow blurring of the sand.
• At the end of the work, it is necessary to remove the formwork from the boards and to strengthen the structure with stones or bricks by forming curbs.

Concrete path

When constructing concrete garden paths with their own hands, it is necessary to carefully mark out the technology described above, and carry out excavation of the soil by marking, forming a foundation pit for the sidewalk base.

On the boundaries of the excavation, curbs or planking are installed from the planks, which are leveled by means of a level and fixed from the outside by pegs or reinforcement.

The bottom of the trench is covered with sand, which is carefully rammed after moistening. The thickness of the resulting pillow should be at least 7 centimeters. Above the sand cushion pour rubble, which is also subjected to ramming. The reinforcement grid is superimposed on top: thanks to it the track will be very strong, capable of withstanding heavy loads.

Next, you can choose one of the construction options, depending on which track is needed.

Option number 1

If you need a smooth, smooth surface, then prepare a liquid concrete solution, which is poured into the formwork over the reinforcing mesh.

1. Concrete equal the rule, using as beacons the sides of the wooden formwork.
2. If concrete is poured onto a path where curbs are already installed, then the rule will need to be made independently so that it does not exceed the distance between the borders.
3. Filled concrete on the path of iron. To do this, do not dry the wet surface sprinkle with a thin layer of dry cement, which immediately rubbed with a grout. If desired, you can purchase special hardening topping mixes.

Option number 2

When imitating masonry using a suitable form, the concrete mix is ​​poured into the formwork in two layers.

1. The first layer is laid on half the height of the formwork and the same level with the rule. For this, a coarse solution obtained by mixing cement and gravel is used. It is necessary to achieve an even surface, for which it is necessary to establish control beacons of the required height over the entire area and, making a fill, equal the mixture on them.
2. After the concrete of the first layer is seized, a mold is placed on its surface and is filled with a liquid solution, without the use of gravel. Alignment is performed on the surface of the mold. The form filled with concrete completely solidifies within 3 – 5 days.
3. After the form, gently rocking and pulling up, remove. Lay next to the previous frozen stock and completely repeat the process of pouring.

If the builder has only one form, the device of garden paths with their own hands can stretch for months, and even years, therefore, when starting such work, it is necessary to attend to the presence of several forms that allow the laying and formation of several “stones”.

In a similar way, it is possible to design the floors in gazebos and smoking rooms, as well as the areas in front of the house and the garage.

Plastic garden paths

Allow gardeners to quickly, in comparison with the construction of solid stone or tile curbs, install tracks using specially prepared for these purposes blanks. They consist of modules, most often the same in size and color. They are collected approximately as a designer of “Lego” and are considered a temporary version of the tracks. But, as they say, there is nothing more permanent than temporary.

At a fairly democratic cost, the plastic garden paths collected by their own hands have a number of advantages:

• long time retain their shape and presentable appearance;
• resistant to wear;
• Are equipped by technological apertures preventing accumulation of water and freely passing it into the soil, which is guaranteed to eliminate the formation of puddles and does not form unpleasant odors;
• are not subject to rotting;
• are technologically clean, clean, do not need systematic maintenance, are resistant to chemical attack, corrosion;
• simple, intuitive installation on the principle of the designer;
• do not need preparatory work, since they fall equally well on any base – sand, turf, clay;
• can be quickly dismantled during site re-planning;
• in the winter they can be washed, dried and stored in a utility room until the new season.

Tracks from plastic bottles and bottles

One of the most original and interesting ways to arrange garden paths and paths with your own hands is laying the surface with plastic lids from bottles. Multicolored lids make it possible to make patterns, mosaics and even whole pictures.

The only drawback of this handy material is its collection, because for even a small lane of covers you will need a huge amount.

Another interesting way to design is laying out garden paths bottoms from plastic bottles. The manufacturer has taken care of the ribbing of the bottoms, which gives them the necessary rigidity. This can be verified by trying to specifically deform the bottom of the plastic bottle. Donets are strong enough and can withstand the weight of a person. To increase the strength characteristics, lay them on a sand cushion, pushing into the sand until it stops. A variety of colors will create a variety of mosaic panels, and larger in comparison with the lids size will make the collection procedure easier.

Helpful Tips

1. Very funny look so-called steppaths, the surface of which is formed of different elements, for example, concrete squares or round logs of large diameter. You can stack them in a row, one by one, to get a chain, which is very fun to navigate. You can arrange these parts in a checkerboard pattern – this will allow you to remember the children’s game in the classics. Moving along such paths intrigues family members and guests.
2. Do not be afraid to combine and mix styles and ways! It is necessary to combine confidently various materials. For example, a tree will be beautifully combined with river pebbles or large pellets such as sea ones. This method will visually smooth out the various transitions when designing paths.
3. When planning work, special attention should be paid to the weather forecast. Virtually all materials used and the technologies used during the construction phase are afraid of rain. The most dangerous is the ingress of water into the earthen trough. Precipitation during work can negate all efforts and expended resources, therefore, in no case should one take action on the eve of bad weather. However, at the stage of completion of the work, rain is very desirable, since it will help to compact the top layer, wash away the dirt from the stones and polish them.
4. The use of natural stone is ideal for a curved, looping in the garden path. By placing individual elements in any order, you can safely lay any, even the most steep turns, not to mention the smooth curves. When you own garden paths, whimsically looping around the garden, it is very desirable to choose this noble, classic material of natural beauty that will serve for decades.

Conclusion

The article lists and discusses only the main, most popular technologies and materials that allow you to build garden paths with your own hands. The human imagination is boundless and multifaceted: every year thousands of nuggets of garden designers create real masterpieces on their sites, producing sidewalks, paths, alleys of completely unexpected materials, for example, from glass bottles. Create and amazingly beautifully combine the various elements.

Dacha paths are not only convenience and cleanliness, but still harmony and beauty, multiplied by the imagination and intellect of their creator!

Photo gallery: garden paths

Video: the garden path with your own hands

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Author: Daria Degtyareva

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