Build Brick Garden Pathways

Turn weedy walks into artful avenues with neat and attractive paths of brick.

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The buttercups made me do it . For years the minute paths between our wood - framed rear bed had been my weeding vexation and backache . The beds themselves were lightsome , cultivable , easy to turn , and weed destitute . The paths , on the other script , were compacted , slurred with the roots of determined intruders , and often muddy . When kingcup became the late invader , I ’d had enough . It was clearly fourth dimension to roleplay .

For some time , I had been eyeing garden - Quran photographs of old English knot gardens and herbaceous plant gardens with brick paths running off in all direction . I did n’t see any reason not to habituate the same idea in our veggie garden . The prospect seemed attractive and low-cost , so off I went to the brickfield . kind , colors , and quantities

Before the retrofit , the weedy way of life were an eyesore and a backache .

brick come in several different types , lots of different color , and even dissimilar size . For a pathway , specially if you ’re in an area where the ground freezes in wintertime , it ’s all-important to usehard brick rather than the soft case made for indoors . The good colouring range I find — from yellow ocher to terra - cotta — was in “ garden bricks , ” and happily they were also the least expensive , at 20 cent each .

My brick measure 7 - 1⁄2 in . by 3 - 1⁄2 in . and they are 2 - 1⁄2 in . thick . A terrace or “ paving ” brick is the same duration and width , but only half as blockheaded , so it is lighter and more convenient to play with . I would have favour it for comfort of installation , but it is also more expensive . In addition , the excess thickness of vulgar brick creates a heavier mass with less inclination to settle unevenly .

First , I brought home a few dozen bricks to apply in calculating how many I ’d need and to study the patterns we could project with them . Calculating the number of brick is not hard , but it take solitaire . I merely lined up a dustup of brick , finish on end , along a veg layer , and that gave me my count of bricks for the length . Then I determined the brick count , side by side , for the breadth of the way of life , and multiplied .

I used this method to figure the number of bricks needed for the garden ’s perimeter track , as well as for each internal path , then total 100 more for honest cadence . My full brick numeration came to 800 .

To void delivery fees , I borrowed a truck to transport the bricks . If you resolve to do the same , keep in mind the system of weights load your fomite can handle . One of the nice things about brick is that each individual unit weighs only about 5 lb . and is easy for someone without dandy strong-arm strength to do by . In bulk , though , bricks weigh a lot . To keep from overburdening my truck , I made four misstep to the house . pattern and preparation

The patterns you may create with brick are limited only by the basic brick shape . The most common innovation are basket weave , herringbone , or straight rows position jack - on - labourer or in a linear bond . Since the width of all the paths in our vegetable garden varies a little , I make up one’s mind , as a gismo , to make every path a different pattern .

I purchase three shade of brick , which my wife and I adjudicate to integrate randomly for each path . If you take this advance , it hardly matters what pattern you utilize because the color mix somewhat shroud any pattern in the design .

In my garden , preparation was a pushover : I did none . All the excavation , leveling , and edging associated with this chore were get rid of because the wooden side panels of my raised layer frame the walkways , and my track were already very compacted . If I had need to , I could have rented a portable compactor to thump the path into a dense surface . Even the traditional bed of sand or gravel was n’t critical since I was n’t paving a drive or a terrace . If the course settle a little raggedly , that will impart magic spell and a sense of old age to the task .

What did matter was a smooth aerofoil and a horizontal surface carpeting of commercial - level nursery cloth to keep the weeds at bay . I asked if I could grease one’s palms 10 or 20 yard from a nearby nursery that made all-encompassing use of the opprobrious smoke roadblock . The owners sold me the amount I needed at $ 1.10 a running foot .

I leveled the paths with a hoe and polish them with a rake . downhearted areas I filled with soil or sand . I trim the nursery material to the size of each path , plus about 3 in . of extra width to extend up the sides of the raised bed . It is n’t seeable since it ’s obscure by the heaviness of the brick .

lay the itinerary

3 . Do some creative finagling where route meets lawn to make a smooth transition . Ideally , the brick would be at grade floor .

4 . Spread moxie over the brick , then sweep it into the crevice to ensure a path that ’s firm underfoot .

I had hope to annul using partial bricks because the easiest installation is one that ask no meet . But since this was a retrofit , some of our paths called for half brick or quarter bricks . To make these cuts , I used a common brick band , or chisel , pick up at the local ironware depot .

A brick chisel produce a reasonably square cut . To begin , I positioned the brick for sizing and noted the length I needed with a incision of the chisel . Then , I set the brick on a slab of brand ( any firm , flat open that can take in a blow will do ) and scored a line all around with unfaltering cock blows on the chisel . Once the stemma was scored , I continued to go around the brick , solicit the chisel , until the brick fracture cleanly .

Since I wanted a tight fit to dissuade weeds , I set the bricks side by side with no outer space in between . It ’s difficult to adjust the filth layer once the cloth is down , but the location of the bricks always need some ok tuning . I juggled their configurations with trivial handfuls of sand underneath the cloth to flush them .

I fill in gaps between the brick by circularise hunky-dory sand down the path and swing out it into the crevice with a ling . Then I settle the gumption by walking back and away on the brick for a few minutes as I swept some more .

Neat and attractive paths are a garden highlight. The raised beds have been returned to their pre-retrofit height by layering 2x2’s on top of each board.Photo/Illustration: Robert Vinnedge

If your track edge or end at the lawn , you may want to make a slight adjustment since the bricks will in all likelihood be higher than the pot . you’re able to slope the sides or end so the way of life grades gradually to lawn level , or you’re able to build a shallow brick step or a curb . The latter two options are a moment hazardous , although the seeable modification in airfoil from lawn to brick may be enough of a signal to keep hoi polloi from jaunt .

Bricks , not buttercupsMy path were n’t make in a day , but they pack no more than two weeks of spare time from start to finish . I promptly realize that my stride count on a few precaution . Leather glove are a must so you do n’t pinch your fingers . The most helpful tool was a dolly to cart brick to the garden without a backache . As long as the George Mason is alive and well , the gardener will shortly be back among the zucchini and eggplants .

Once the itinerary were beautiful and buttercup costless , we added some finishing touches to make the vegetable garden more decorative . We sow flowers and supply plants in refined batch . We put a sculpture at a period where three peonies were already well set up . And , so the untiring gardener can once in a while take a rest period or relax with the olfactory property of rustling tomato leave-taking , we carefully sited a simple bench in the garden .

The late natural spring brick undertaking stay our usual planting a routine , but next spring the garden will provision the kitchen as always . Even this year , what was once just the kitchen itinerary will be the shiny spot in the late summer vista at our house .

tally plumbing to your pathTo make watering easier and more efficient , I ran 1⁄2 - in . startle pipe down one of the path before I start lay brick . Since my area seldom has a unvoiced freeze , I congeal my pipe only 8 in . deep . In colder areas , immerse it deeper or siphon the urine from the business in fall .

I attached a sprinkler foreland to a 3 - ft . length of pipage in the center of the garden . At the other end , I just added a ribbon adapter so I can chouse on the hosepipe when I require to water . The line could also be plumbed into the existing water system .

by David RigbyJune 1997from issue # 9

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