Garden paths are required on any site. They protect the beds and flower beds from ruin by inattentive households, they allow you to go out into the garden even on a rainy day. Performed in the same style with other structures, the paths will complement the landscape design of the site, help to correctly place accents. It is very important to carefully consider their creation, so that out of ignorance in the natural garden an urban path does not appear, more like a sidewalk. A Japanese step path will also look unnatural in an English park. Create a path in the right style will help the form for filling garden paths. How to do it, we’ll talk today.
Why use a form for garden paths?
Indeed, in order to make a path in the garden, you can use the finished tile: look for a suitable building materials store and order the right amount.
But the shape for garden paths has its own advantages.
- Saving. It is enough to compare the price of the finished tile and the raw materials from which it is made, how it turns out that it is more profitable to knead the solution on your own and pour it into the form. You don’t have to think about how to transport the finished tile, you don’t need to spend money on its delivery and handling.
- Uniqueness. The path created using the form will be unique: you need the width, length and configuration that takes into account the scale and design of the specific area for which it is intended.
- Practicality and reliability. The tile can be made of any thickness and strength, which will allow it to pave the car parking and any other parts of the garden.
- Ease of use. Using the shape of the desired configuration, you can create a track not by one tile, but by entire sections.
- Beauty. By forming your own tile, you can decorate the finished product with pieces of porcelain stoneware or pebbles, make the track an element that further emphasizes the advantages of the garden.
Anyone for whom individuality is important in everything, who is not used to obeying the standards and does not always follow the rules, will certainly make a choice in favor of the independent production of garden path elements.
The design options for garden paths are very diverse. You will find a selection of design ideas + step-by-step master classes in the material: //diz-cafe.com/dekor/sadovye-dorozhki-svoimi-rukami.html
A track made using a form is economical, unique, practical, and the result of its application pleases the eye
Due to the shape, you can make tracks of different lengths, widths and configurations
Non-standard tracks attract attention with their unusual
Buy a finished form or do it yourself?
A handmade mold for making garden paths may not produce geometrically accurate elements, but the result of its application will be the most natural and original. It is precisely for individuality and originality that things made by hand are valued throughout the world.
Who said that a hand made form would be worse than a store option? In addition, the prudent owner will always find what to save on money. It's time to apply your wit and consider two options for creating your own mold for pouring tiles.
Homemade option # 1 - a form of wooden bars
Four wooden blocks of 50 x 50 mm can be fastened together to form a frame. Reliability of fixation will be given by grooves that are sawn in pairs of opposite bars. Thin sheet steel can be used in the form of staples, which are fastened with screws at the junction of the bars.
The role of the bottom of the form will play a sheet of iron or plywood. On the surface of the finished tile, these details will look interesting. When using a large form, it is better to reinforce the tile with a metal mesh. The front surface of the product can be decorated with pieces of ceramics, gravel or pebbles.
Decorative material can simply be laid out at the bottom of the form, but it is more reliable to fix it with water-soluble glue on the surface of the paper, and then lay it down on the bottom of the form with paper. Pour cement mortar. The mold is frozen from the hardened tile, after which the paper is washed off with warm water. The surface of the product is iron.
Homemade option # 2 - sheet metal mold
If the farm has an old wooden barrel pulled together with iron hoops, then they can be used to imitate natural stone. It is enough to bend the metal as you want, and the shape for the track can be applied. This method is especially convenient if there are several hoops. With a deficiency of hoops, they can be made from a sheet of galvanized iron. It is enough to cut strips of 5 cm, and bend the ends with a hammer like a roof fold. Do-it-yourself form for a garden path is ready.
Application of sheet metal mold:
a - monolithic concrete, b - decorative inclusions, c - hoop
A track using such forms does not need a special base. They can be created on any surface if it is not too stony or marshy. The mold is laid out on the finished base and deepened with a hammer. The soil from the inner region of each hoop needs to be removed to a depth of about 5 cm. The formed recess and the inner surface of the hoop must be moistened well, then pour a little broken brick or gravel and pour the solution.
It is better to prepare the solution from 4 parts of sand and one of cement. You can add fine gravel aggregate. It is important not to overdo it with water: the consistency should be a little thicker than sour cream. It is better to give the tile a slight bulge so that water flows from it. The surface is carefully leveled with a trowel and iron with a mixture of cement and any mineral dye.
The solution sets fast enough - it will take only a few minutes. Now the hoop can be removed and reused until the entire track is ready. For the track to completely dry, it will take 2-3 days. In case of extreme heat, so that the tile does not crack, it can be covered with a film.
Even the imitation of round stones looks attractive, and the addition of pigment creates an additional play of color
Sand or lawn grass may be used between track elements.
If a track has been rebuilt, concrete discs will always find new uses.
By the way, even in the form of circles, a concrete track will look original. In case of redevelopment, tiles can be taken out of the ground and reused. The cracks between the tiles are sprinkled with sand, but the lawn grass will also look good. And in the solution itself, you can add pigment or decorate the surface of the tiles until it hardens, with any pattern using a brush or spatula.
You can learn about how to choose lawn grass from the material: //diz-cafe.com/ozelenenie/kakuyu-travu-vybrat-dlya-gazona.html
The most common borders
Special fences or borders give the track a finished look. In addition, curbs successfully resist the growth of lawn grass if this process is undesirable. The service life of the fenced path increases. It is important that the style of the border matches the appearance of the track itself.
The main types of borders:
- Plastic. Perfectly captures the contour of the track. The plastic border for garden paths corresponds to any type of coating, because it is practically invisible, which does not prevent it from being functional.
- Concrete. Used, for example, for a landscape-style plot. It is made the most diverse, depending on the imagination of the designer. They are often surrounded by paths from rubble.
- Wooden. Perfect for a rustic style plot. With prolonged use, such a border becomes not too presentable, but a cheap wooden border is even made from waste boards.
- Brick. Applies to country style or English garden. Such a border is able to beautifully frame sections made of pavers or natural boulder.
Also, material on the arrangement of paving garden paths may be useful: //diz-cafe.com/diy/ustrojstvo-sadovyx-dorozhek-iz-bruschatki.html
Below are photo examples of each of the options.
The plastic border is invisible, but it performs all its functions perfectly.
Concrete border fits perfectly into the landscape style
The wooden border needs to be maintained so that it retains its appearance
Brick border can decorate a path made of natural stone or pavers
A garden path made with a soul will protect and zone the garden. It will help summer residents to walk freely in any weather. The track will even improve the microclimate of the site, heating up on sunny days.
