Without country paths it is impossible to imagine a suburban area: they not only connect the house with other objects, but also perform an important decorative function. By choosing the right material, you can create a harmonious picture in a single style, and by building the paths at the cottage with your own hands, you can turn a few hundred into a unique and comfortable territory.
What kind of tracks can you make?
The main reason for dividing country paths and paths into types is the material from which they are built. Its diversity allows you to choose the best option for landscaping.
Natural stone is notable for its natural beauty and nobleness, but its price is quite high.
A tree is perfect for arranging the territory in a rustic style.
Brick is a wonderful material, especially if the house is also built from it.
Paving slabs or paving stones will serve for a long time and faithfully.
You can learn more about how to make paving garden paths from the material: //diz-cafe.com/diy/ustrojstvo-sadovyx-dorozhek-iz-bruschatki.html
Simple and inexpensive gravel trails are also appropriate in the garden.
You can use concrete to create unique road tiles.
By combining materials, it is easy to achieve a stylistic match of the tracks with surrounding natural and artificial objects.
Using decorative concrete, you can create the effect of not only natural stone, but also wood, brick and other relief coatings. More about this: //diz-cafe.com/dekor/dekorativnyj-beton.html
Track and landscape layout
Paths are the same important strategic part of a suburban area as a house, a garage or a bathhouse, so you should think about their construction before building buildings and utility rooms. For convenience, it is better to draw up a diagram by drawing it by hand or using a computer designer program. Having identified important points, it is necessary to connect them with paths - straight or curved, depending on the terrain.
It is better if all objects, including a garden, a kitchen garden, greenhouses, a bathhouse, arbors, are present on the diagram - paths are a connecting element between them. Material for the construction of communication lines should be combined with buildings and surrounding decorative elements.
If it often rains in your area, you need to think through a drainage system and dig plums along the edges of the roads so that water does not stagnate. When doing the construction of country paths with your own hands, remember: when freezing, water will spoil the material - wood, brick, concrete. Powerful trees should not grow near the coatings, as their root system will easily violate the integrity of the roads.
3 Best Budget Options
Owners of villas and luxury cottages will most likely not mess with sand and stones, but will invite a famous landscape designer and a team of specialists. Anyone who independently arranges the garden knows perfectly well that it is not necessary to use expensive natural stone or collectible paving stones for the construction of original and convenient walkways. Therefore, we consider three options for creating tracks from affordable and inexpensive materials: cement, brick and wood. Be sure, the result will surprise you!
Option # 1 - a trail of cement leaves
Lovers of short-cut lawns will never trade silky green grass for dense thickets of bushes or flower beds, and even more so will refuse the path crossing the luxurious carpet in front of the house. But there is a tricky option, in which you can maintain the integrity of the lawn and at the same time arrange a kind of path that allows you to cross the grass directly.
To build a miracle path, you will need an ordinary cement mortar and a plant that can be found somewhere nearby - burdock, or rather, its large leaves.
In a small container, knead the solution according to the instructions and spread the thick mass on a large sheet of burdock. What is not a form for filling?
After the sand-cement mixture has completely set, the sheet is removed. We get the original decorative tile - the main element of the track.
You can create your own more durable form for filling garden paths, read about it: //diz-cafe.com/dekor/forma-dlya-zalivki-sadovyx-dorozhek.html
It remains to prepare a place for styling. Using a scoop or small spatula, gently remove a piece of sod so that a shallow hole forms.
We lay the tiles in the prepared nest, then do the same with the rest of the elements. The track is light, airy, harmoniously complementing the lawn. It’s nice and safe to walk on beautiful decorative leaves even in rainy weather.
Option # 2 - solid brick walkway
Brick is a universal material. You don’t have to think about how to make a path in the country, if you have at hand the necessary amount of this durable material, as if specially created for the construction of reliable coatings. Its advantage is that it is ideal for almost any country style. Red bricks, like gray ones, look amazing against the background of a building from the same material, blend perfectly with the tree, harmoniously fit into the natural environment. One piece of advice is to use only special, paving material.
The main stages of construction:
- Boundary and soil extraction.
- Preparation of sand and gravel base.
- Brick laying.
- Filling the voids with sand.
The width of the trench depends on the size of the brick and the pattern that will be laid out of them. The minimum width of the path is 0.9 m. We define the boundaries and designate them with pegs with a stretched building cord. We take out the turf and tear out a shallow trench. Its edges need to be strengthened with boards - in the next two years they will serve as an additional emphasis for the curb. Then they can be removed, and the grooves covered with gravel or pebbles.
The basis for a brick consists of two layers. Lower - gravel and sand of a large fraction. After backfilling, the gravel mixture must be evenly distributed along the entire length of the track and rammed.
The top layer consists of one sand. Aligning it along the track, simultaneously press to make the layer dense enough. It is better to tamp segments of 20-30 cm, so the base will be better.
The next step is laying bricks along the boards. Before laying each element, dig a small hole, then put a brick in it and adjust its position with a wooden hammer. Products placed on the end will play the role of a border.
Given the pattern of laying, fill the distance between the curbs with bricks, easily hammering them into the sand and regularly checking the level.
The last step is to fill the gaps between the bricks with sand. Gently sprinkle sand until it is level with bricks. Water the track and repeat the last operation. In the next few days, you can adjust the position of the bricks.
Option # 3 - use of wooden saw cuts
If you compare wood with stone, then it will certainly lose: wood does not differ in durability and strength of granite or marble. However, when arranging garden paths in the country, elements from this seemingly inappropriate material are used. Wood cuts, while observing the installation technology, are excellent "bricks" for creating a decorative path in a rustic style.
An old tree can be found right in the country or in the nearest forest. We cut the trunk into small segments - from 10 to 20 cm thick. Thick knots will also come in handy - small round beads are suitable for decorating the site or the edges of the track.
At the planned site, remove the turf layer and tear out a shallow trench.
We fill the bottom of the trench with sand, a layer of 5 cm is enough. Tamp and level.
On the prepared base, lay out the saw cuts. Using the level, we give them a horizontal position, a wooden sledgehammer or a large hammer is perfect for this. In some places, voids form - they can be filled with small saw cuts.
The gaps between the wooden elements are covered with sand or earth. In the spring they can be planted with lawn grass or small flowers - so the track will look more artistic.
To determine how to lay out beautiful decorative paths in the country, just look around. Do not be afraid to use your own technological secrets and design solutions during construction - then the summer cottage will become truly unique.