Cement paths need specific care. They are unsympathetic in color, and can easily crack with frost. To prevent cracking, the mixture of cement should contain a high proportion of sand, with the path being laid on a concrete basis six inches thick. To create a warmer hue, try adding iron oxide to the mixture.
The use of brick paths are ideal for a garden setting, and are preferable to gravel paths. Bricks are not flexible, making it a difficult material for curves. However, bricks allow for an artistic touch, can be easily freed of weeds, they are durable, and feature rich colors.
It is hard to change for the old order of gardening, but brick paths are the fashion of today’s time. Bricks are a wonderful choice for a path because they are able to blend with nature, while blending also with artificial elements like water fountains.
Bricks are found in old gardens, due to their durability and ability to stand the test of time. The porous nature of the material of the brick allows it to be every dry. Choose bricks for your paths that are not impervious to water.
You can test your bricks by plunging them into a bucket of water, and determining the speed that surface water disappears when lifted out of the water. As for cost, brick paths are not going to be much different from gravel, but the pricing of the material is often what rules the decision making.
A gravel path will have a rubble foundation dressed over with a finer material, and finally covered with screened gravel or builder’s sand. The appearance of brick paths would be flawed if any noticeable camber were given to the surface, but on level ground there may be half an inch difference of levelness between the sides and the center of a three-foot path.
Bricks will need to be laid out flat on the sand, without mortar or cement, and pressed down firmly, in close contact, kept in line with the aid of a stretched cord. You should begin by laying the marginal bricks on one side from end to end, and to select the side which comes against turf, as that helps to keep the bricks in place.
Bricks tend to be curved, more or less, in the burning process. By glancing along the edge you can notice the concave side. This side must be laid downwards; otherwise the brick will become loose.
After you have laid the marginal bricks on one side, sure it is true to form and straight; you can begin building the center up to it. Before you go any further, you should determine how you will lay the rest of the bricks. This can be done in parallel lines or breaking joints, often the simplest plant to use. This pattern will produce and neat and ambitious effect. It is best to avoid any patterns that involve the cutting of bricks, as creating neat joints is very difficult.
So long as you lay the center bricks well, the marginal line of the bricks lie neatly on the free side, completing the path. In bedding the bricks upon their seating the sand may be added to or removed, as the situation requires, bringing the upper surface of the bricks to the general level.
The most important aspect to remember is to lay each brick firmly, so that no subsequent subsidence of individual bricks can occur. To make them stand out, lay the marginal brinks on edge, as this will make them stand about two inches above the center, but just know that this is not conducive to drainage.
