Add Photo to Journal
|
|
| Photo Credit: Robert Smaus |
|
Achillea tomentosa is a good plant for those paver gaps. |
One of the most attractive paths or patios that you can easily create in your garden is one that also allows you to plant things between the pavers, so the concrete or stone doesn’t look as harsh or barren. Planting wispy or grassy plants around your pavers can make the area look more like a meadow. In fact, there are some very nice flowering plants that actually seem to prefer growing in the gaps left between concrete or stone (probably because they’re less likely to be overwatered or because the pavers keep the roots cool).
What’s more, creating such a look is pretty easy to do. Start by deciding what you want to pave the area with – concrete steppingstones, real stone or something similar. Then carefully measure the area you’d like to pave and ask your local supplier how much material you’ll need for that allotted space, as well as how much sand is required for setting the stones on a 1-inch-thick base. Once your materials have been assembled, excavate some soil from the area to be paved. The pavers should end up about a ½ inch above the soil, so remove enough soil to allow for the inch-thick base of sand, plus the thickness of the pavers, minus that ½ inch that protrudes aboveground. Level the sand base with a homemade tool called a screed. The screed travels on 2x4-inch or 2x2-inch lumber guides held in place with short stakes, on either side of where you’re laying the paving. (The picture can help you visualize this.) Make sure the top of the lumber guides are the same height as the finished path or patio (about a ½ inch aboveground). You can make a custom screed by attaching a piece of hardboard or other wood to a 1x1-inch piece of wood. The hardboard should hang down from the wood so it equals the depth of the pavers. Then when it’s dragged along the guides, it’ll level the sand base and leave enough room to set the pavers on top, so they end up at the intended depth.
|