How to Pave a Garden Path

When you see a professional paver at work, it always looks so easy that you think: “I can make my own garden path.” And immediately your mind goes to projects you’d like to do but haven’t. Do you have that?

What will set your path apart from other people who think the same way and who also have no experience in paving, is this: be willing to take those few extra steps to take your garden path from good to great.

Everyone knows, you first need to prepare your underground to be level and firm. Then you must mark your edges and outline onto the soil the way the path is going to go. Once you’re finished designing, you can measure and calculate just how many tiles you need to order. Allow for edging as well as a small percentage of breakage. Next come ordering your tiles.

Fill the trench with coarse bedding sand, leaving enough depth for the pavers, and rake smooth. Dampen the sand, then level it by dragging a 2×6-inch piece of wood (width of the path). Add sand to low spots and remove sand that builds up. Measure the length and width of your tile and ditto of your garden path, and divide one number by the other. Order them online here, if you want a really good deal: garden pavers – various shapes, forms and ideas.

Now, here come the ‘brick laying’- part, and I got this info from the Better Homes and Garden-website:

“Starting at the corner, lay the first few pavers snuggly against the edging. Use a rubber mallet to tap the pavers into place. Every few feet, use a level to check that the pavers are set at the same height. Make sure paver edges and joints are aligned. Then, rent a masonry saw to cut pavers if you lay them in a staggered pattern or if the path is curved. (That is pretty much in every situation. Before you rent one, check if your neighbor has one. Much cheaper. Only costs you a cake… Winking smile )

Then, lay the brick in the pavement pattern shown in the demo-picture above. When you are done laying the bricks, it is time to secure them in position and get that finished look by pouring fine silicate sand into the joints and a bot more sand on top of your garden path pavers. With a broom, sweep the sand into joints. “Tamp the surface periodically.” recommends BH&G. When the joints are nearly full, sweep off excess sand and dampen the filled joints.”

And that’s it, folks. DIY garden walkway installation made easy.

Note: This is actually 1 of 3 different garden path presented by that fav website of mine: Better Homes * Gardens.