It is no coincidence that the owners of suburban real estate pay great attention to landscape design. Paths, paths are combined with border plantings, lighting, sculptures are added. Excellent compositions are obtained. You can make passages of any width: from narrow walking paths to wide pedestrian zones, ceremonial alleys that can withstand the pressure of a car.
It is not at all necessary to be a landscape designer to design and build beautiful and durable paths on your site.
Garden paths - how to combine beauty and convenience
Content
- Garden paths - how to combine beauty and convenience
- Varieties of garden paths for a suburban area
- Paths made of wood, bark and grass
- Natural stone garden path
- Colored concrete paving slabs and paving stones
- Gravel and crushed stone
- Beautiful projects of country paths with photos
- Video: Simple Gravel Paths
- Photo of tracks in the country
Walkways are needed to get to the buildings, to the remote areas of the garden. The paths in the country house combine several functions at once: decorative and practical. Decorate the site, ensure the safety of people moving, keep shoes clean. Any landscape design begins with determining the direction of the paths, outline the dimensions of future passes through the site.
The paths reflect the style of the suburban area. Looking at them, you can understand what decorative effect the owners of the garden want to achieve.
When planning summer cottages, it is worth considering the bearing capacity of the soil, the age of the inhabitants of the cottage, and financial capabilities. Concrete will sink into loose soil, drainage must be done. Crushed stone, brick chips are laid on the compacted ground. But these materials are not safe for babies, it is softer for children to fall on the sandy surface. It is better to lay out the front approach to the house with tiles, providing a reliable gravel cushion so that you can drive up by transport.
The material for the path is selected based on its purpose, the style of garden decoration and the allocated budget.
In landscape design, trails are used to visually correct the defects of the territory:
- narrow ones with numerous bends expand the space;
- straight lines with a longitudinal pattern create perspective;
- unusual will become an accent that distracts attention from buildings.
Decor is another component. The canvas can be solid or from elements of different shapes. Having laid out a path with imagination, it is easy to emphasize individuality, to show creative abilities.
How to make the paths on the site comfortable? Some helpful tips:
- They need to be planned so that you can get to the most remote points of the garden. Walking routes should not run into fences.
- On the paths to the outbuildings, a wheelbarrow or a cargo trolley must fit.
Particular attention is paid to the preparation of the base, be sure to remove the fertile layer. Sand or dense soil is tamped. For rigidity, crushed stone, gravel-sand mixtures are used.
When planning, take into account the slope, make water disposal, drainage in order to prevent the accumulation of water, the formation of puddles that destroy the road surface.
Varieties of garden paths for a suburban area
When choosing a material, the relief and the general style solution are taken into account. Most popular materials:
- natural stone always looks advantageous, gives the site nobility;
- artificial imitations of marble, other rocks usually of strict geometric dimensions, give sophistication, elegance;
- clinker bricks will add color variety;
- large polished pebbles look original, often used for gravel curbs;
- the tree looks impressive, aesthetically pleasing.
The appearance of decorative aisles depends on the ability to combine finishing materials. Coatings are selected according to shade, structure. The stone adjoins beautifully with boulders and pebbles. The tile is compatible with a decking or mast board.
A dark stone path creates a striking contrast to the neatly cut grass on a classic lawn
Light stone suitable for paths between flower beds, beds and bushes
Paths made of wood, bark and grass
When creating wooden paths at a summer cottage, the fragility of the material is taken into account. The tree rots, cracks when dry. The durability of the wood is given by special compounds: antiseptic impregnations, water-repellent compounds.
The service life of a wooden path depends on the type of wood, the construction of the covering and the quality of work
The most durable will be the floor track, raised above the ground.
For the arrangement of pedestrian zones, use:
- boards - the simplest version of the walkway;
- wooden cuts, put round timber on the sand;
- decking - garden parquet in the form of slabs or planks.
Tracks from saw cuts laid on a gravel bed have proven themselves well. The water on such paths does not stagnate and the wood rots less
Cuts on both sides are treated with linseed oil heated to the boiling point. Waste engine oil repels water well; wood is treated with dark grease only from below.
Soft surfaces include crushed bark or wood chips. Crushed stone or sand and gravel base is covered with small pieces. Eco-friendly material perfectly sets off green spaces. The path warms up quickly in the sun, but is never too hot.
Chip paths are arranged where they do not go too often. To make the chips less scattered outside the track, the edges are reinforced with a border
Narrow trails are laid with grass-like surfaces or rolling lawns. The plates are laid on the tamped ground. It will take 2 years for the grass rolls to germinate into the soil. The second option for green surfaces is sowing with a mixture of grasses for sports turf, resistant to trampling. Such tracks will have to be restored regularly.
Grass path goes well with any style of site decoration
Natural stone garden path
The most common natural material is flagstone. These are flat plates of different sizes. Budget solutions:
- sandstone;
- shell rock;
- limestone;
- dolomite;
- tuff;
- shales.
Such breeds are usually offered in sawn form, making the figures of the correct shape. The color of the materials ranges from yellowish gray to red and greenish. For parterre coatings, expensive tile finishes are used: basalt, granite, porphyry, marble. Untreated stone with natural irregularities looks decorative: diabase, gabbro, pebbles, quartzite, shungite.
Natural stone blends harmoniously into the landscape and lasts much longer than wood
Especially attractive are the paths where green grass grows between the stones.
Loose stones have disadvantages: the pores draw in moisture, in the cold the paths are covered with ice. It is necessary to carry out a special treatment every 3 years.
Colored concrete paving slabs and paving stones
Often, paths to the house are laid with special tiled materials:
- paving stones;
- paving slabs;
- anti-slip rubber mats;
- solid clinker bricks;
- plastic - budget tiles, lightweight, but prone to fading;
- concrete with all kinds of fillers that reduce the weight of the coatings (add shredded plastic, shavings, crushed rubber, brick chips).
Thin cement tile walkway with in-situ cast concrete curbs
Herringbone clinker brick garden path
There are standard tile laying schemes:
- linear-angular or herringbone;
- linear with a shift - the seams of the second row are placed in the middle of the first tiles;
- by seam-to-seam laying, a clear geometry is created;
- the braid is obtained by alternating longitudinal and transverse paving stones.
Mosaics are made from multi-colored materials or contrasting coverings are laid in a checkerboard pattern.
Paving slabs can be laid on both cement and sand base
Large tiles are often laid out with wide seams and filled with grass
When the canvas is ready, the seams are sealed with sand or cement mortar. Without treatment, the paths will overgrow. Tiled materials are durable and beautiful, designed for heavy loads, easy to fit on a sand and gravel cushion. The brick is laid on a concrete solution.
The paths are completely covered with concrete or tiles are made independently using curly frames, if desired, coloring water pigments are introduced. During the hardening period, lay on top:
- fragments of ceramic tiles for interior decoration;
- shards of dishes;
- small pebbles or expanded clay.
The original pattern, laid out with pebbles on a concrete base, will turn the path into the central element of the garden decor
Craftsmen decorate the paths with waste: corks or bottoms from bottles. Barefoot lovers prefer rubber. The mats are pleasant to the touch, warm even on cool mornings. The device of a rubber path in the garden, a budget and simple option. On car tires from heavy trucks, the side parts are carefully cut off, the ring is straightened. They are laid in two variations: smooth or embossed side up.
Gravel and crushed stone
An inexpensive and common material, ideal for winding paths. Gravel is chosen from dense rocks or expanded clay. Tennisite of a reddish color is made by clays with the addition of lime, ceramic chips.
Tennisit is a material for tennis courts that can be used in the country.
Some gravels are dusty and must be wetted in dry weather. The optimum layer thickness is from 7 to 10 cm. The material compresses or settles on its own within two weeks.
A gravel fill track is easy to implement and does not require significant investments
Crushed stone is often used in combination with stone, brick or wood.
Crushed stone can be laid by hand, picking up the pieces according to the shape. Sharp edges are smoothed with a sander.
Gravel does not withstand heavy loads, gradually overgrows with grass blown by the wind or applied by shoes. Paths need to be fenced with a curb to keep their shape.
Beautiful projects of country paths with photos
The variety of paths on the sites of country houses can be seen in the photo. In a small selection, the best options are presented. Using colored materials, they add colors to the surroundings. Monochrome lawn paths accentuate the beauty of the curb plantings. Bridges and steps decorate the uneven natural relief.
A winding path made of brick or stone is ideal for secluded corners of a garden with tall trees and shrubs
To decorate the front entrance area from the gate or gate to the house, tiles or stone are preferable. This is the business card of the owners of the land plot. For remote corners, budget options for the improvement of pedestrian zones with narrow paths are acceptable.
The path from the gate to the house is the most important, it must be made of the most durable material, based on your financial capabilities
A beautiful and practical path - a sandy surface, framed by decorative perennials. The curb trim is buried in the ground so that it does not protrude too much above the aisle, and prevents the roots of perennial weeds from spreading.
Simple and cheap sand track
In fashion trends, eco-style is paths without borders, almost invisible in the landscape. High-tech lovers prefer austere geometry, lovers of Art Nouveau - smooth lines, bends, decorative bridges over dry streams. Technostyle is plastic and concrete with glass and metal inclusions.
High-tech track consists of laconic elements with a clearly defined geometric shape
Japanese-style wooden paths highlight the natural beauty of the environment. Pyramids of stones are placed along the path for coloring. The stone is appropriate for ethnic design.
A path of large stones is an invariable attribute of a Japanese-style garden
From the same materials, designers create different style solutions, emphasizing the color of the garden, the local area.
Beautiful paths in the country house add tidiness to the site, ennoble the territory, favorably emphasize the individuality and elegance of the house and garden. A neat central alley in tiles or winding paths that can be laid out with rubble look picturesque, harmoniously connecting functional areas into a single composition.
Video: Simple Gravel Paths
Photo of tracks in the country
