How to lay a foundation for paving a garden
Paving a garden will cut down all that maintenance time and give you a garden you can enjoy the year round. Here's how you do the foundation.
Level of difficulty
Level 3: Difficult
What you need
- Gloves
- Shovel
- Tape measure
- Shovel
- Bricks
- Slabs
- Gravel
- Concrete
- Hardcore
- Builder's sand
- Garden rake
- Garden paving slabs
- Mortar
- Spirit level
- String lines
- Pegs
- Hammer
The steps to follow
Note:
To pave a garden, you'll first need to lay a firm foundation and pave slabs on the foundation.
- Measure the length of the foundation you plan to lay.
- Set up two parallel string lines between pegs. The pegs will need to be 1 m (39 in) apart.
- Dig down to a depth of about 20 cm (8 in) to accommodate a layer of hardcore (a mixture of crushed bricks and concrete), a layer of sand, and paving material.
- Add 10 cm (4 in) of hardcore on this foundation.
- Next, put in 5 cm (2 in) of builder's sand on top of the hardcore.
- Tamp down and level it with a garden rake.
- You can now pave slabs onto the foundation.
Note:
For patios or heavier traffic areas, you should use mortar to lay your paving.
