Building paths, walls and steps in your small garden

Basically a path to the front door should be about 1.2m wide and the others at least 60cm wide.

Method of building pathways

  • Use pegs and string to mark the edges after you have measured the area of your path leaving a extra 5cm on each side.

  • Dig out the soil to a depth of 25cm. For water to run away easily, slightly slope the path to each side by about 3cm per meter of path.

  • You can now put a 20cm thick layer of gravel or coarse grit on the path surface & stamp it down to a thickness of 15cm.

  • Use a 5cm layer of finer gravel or grit on top and also stamp it down. Repeat a second layer of fine gravel.

  • After you've added  a 3cm layer of sand; level and roll it.

  • With a base that is thick enough these concrete or gravel paths will support the weight of cars etc.

  • The rest of the covering layers should be saved for repairs later.

Side reinforcement

This is not very important but will increase the durability of the path. Bed your paving, or border it with edging stones in a foundation of concrete. Where the soils begin the outermost row ends. Edges that stick out are unattractive and will make lawn care difficult.

Paving in small gardens:

  • Construct your pavement with a 5:100 degree slope to the sides.

  • Add a 5cm thick layer of sand and smooth it over the top of the stamped-down layer of gravel.

  • Lay concrete paving stones evenly on top of this layer , fill the cracks with sand and knock down the entire surface.

  • Lay and tapped down natural stones with a paving mallet.

  • You can now add sand over the paved surface, then level it and sweep it into the cracks.

  • Repeat this procedure after a few weeks.

  • Use old or secondhand natural paving stones and save money.