Garden paths: how it fits with your own hands. Tips from professionals and 120 styling photos
A beautiful and tidy garden is not only well—groomed, rare and beautiful plants. An important aspect of an aesthetically attractive space is neat pedestrian paths. The first thing we see when we enter the site is a hand—made garden path. She accompanies us everywhere. At the cottage, vegetable garden, garden, gazebo or bathhouse.
It's always nice to walk along the beautiful tiles for garden paths. In the article you will learn all about the manufacture of such paths. How to choose the material? What are the varieties? And much more.
This is a budget option for the design of a country path. Due to its structure, gravel will perfectly pass water through empty areas, which will allow you to walk comfortably both in the rain and in the mud.
This material will help you easily give the right shape for a garden path, which can always be changed or supplemented. This is a simple, effective and mobile option for the design of the site.
One of the disadvantages is that gravel perfectly passes weeds and grass. And it will have to be cleaned periodically. Like any set of small elements, gravel is difficult to keep in one position. And to preserve the integrity of the design, it is better to use curbs for garden paths.
Using the lawn to create a path
What are the nuances in the manufacture of lawn garden paths? To maintain an attractive appearance, the lawn needs constant care. Watering, weeding and shearing.
And it is also important to have constant natural light. With constant operation, it is quickly trampled, bald spots appear and the overall appearance deteriorates.
One of the advantages is that with proper care, the track looks very beautiful and creates a feeling of comfort and well-groomed. Besides, it's nice to walk on it.
There is an interesting life hack for caring for such a path. To facilitate the maintenance of the lawn, choose a width that matches the width of your lawn mower. This will save time at times.
A path made of tiles
Paving slabs give the space a sense of elegance. The main feature is the minimum requirements for care and maintenance. With a high-quality installation, the tile will serve you for many decades. And keep a well-groomed appearance.
But, there are also disadvantages of this style. First of all, it is the price. This type of design is considered the most expensive. Even self-laying will not help to reduce costs.
A few tips for self-laying paving slabs:
- To make the design more strict, use a garden border.
- The tile must be laid out when there has not been and will not be rain for at least a week. This is the most important condition. It is its observance that determines the service life of the track.
- If you live in an area with heavy and prolonged rains, then you should take care of a drainage system for the path.
Garden paths made of plastic
Plastic garden paths are the most mobile. The path is assembled as a constructor. Made of square, rectangular plastic panels and fasteners. The presence of fasteners allows you to adjust the length and width.
As can be seen in the photo of the garden paths, the fasteners are made of dense plastic. And they have an impressive mass, which gives the structure strength and the ability to withstand high loads.
The obvious advantages include:
The diversity of the color palette, plastic has many colors and their shades.
The outer surface is made using a special technology, it provides maximum contact with shoes and minimizes the effect of sliding.
Plastic for the street is created with the understanding that temperature fluctuations are possible, too high heating in the sun or very low temperatures in winter.
This solution is suitable even for the northern regions. After all, such a track can withstand a temperature drop to -45 degrees.
The southern regions are known for the fact that even asphalt melts in the summer. But, specially designed plastic is able to perform its functions up to a temperature of + 55 degrees. At higher temperatures, it retains its shape and does not deform if you do not walk on it.
The panels are easy to disassemble, allowing you to experiment with the design or pick up the path when moving.
Due to the presence of holes in the panels, they perfectly pass water. This allows you to move comfortably in the rain.
A very beautiful solution in the design is a path made of round tree cuts. Such a design gives an inner feeling of warmth and comfort. Perfectly combines with any garden or house decoration. And also does not require a trip to the store. The necessary material is often available in the country or in a private house in excess.
To create a first-class wooden walkway, you need:
- dry wood;
- cutting tool;
- gloves and mask for protection;
- varnish on wood.
First of all, it is necessary to cut the tree into elements of the same thickness. To create an interesting drawing, use elements of different diameters. The height of the bars of the future track should be twice as large as the depth of the pit where it will pass.
If there is a special tool for the tree that will protect it from rotting and insects, it should be treated with the part that will be located in the ground. After that, it is necessary to dry the bars.
When everything dries out, you can cover the wood with varnish. This will help to increase the service life of the product. If you are for a completely natural look, then use varnish at least on the underground part of the bar.
A layer of rubble is laid out in the pit. Bars of wood are installed on top. The gaps are filled with sand.
River Stone
The simplest river stone can turn a path into a work of art. If you select a sufficient number of light, gray and dark stones similar in hue, you can lay out any picture or ornament. This is a long and painstaking work. But, the resulting design will be absolutely unique. And you will be able to be proud of yourself, listen to the enthusiastic reviews of friends and family.
First of all, it is necessary to sort the stones by color, as well as get rid of defective and stones with obvious flaws. To facilitate further work, you can sort the stones by size.
It is important to create a feasible sketch of the future track. You can use ready-made ideas from the Internet or come up with your own design. It is easiest to lay curlicues or squares.
A path using tree bark
Bark is a cheap material that can be bought at any hardware store. An interesting feature of the bark is that it does not allow weeds to grow. Accordingly, such a path will require a minimum of care and time.
Disadvantages:
- it is necessary to add bark to the track every season;
- part of the material is carried by the wind or on the sole of the shoe, which also affects the need to add bark to some areas.
Photos of garden paths