Stone for tracks: the idea for design

A few decades ago, no one thought about such an element of landscape design as a garden path. The plot near a private house or dacha was perceived rather as a garden, each square centimeter of which should be occupied by some kind of culture. The path in the garden occupied only a small area between the beds and garden trees. In most cases, it was just a drowned tape of the earth that people used to walk around. Sometimes a secondary brick was used as a cover for such a path, in some cases it was scoured with old boards, especially rich people were simply poured with concrete, and some even used an old conveyor belt.

However, the time has come another. Now in most private houses the plot is used not for gardening, but for recreation. The new generation prefers to make a landscaping on the useful area, so that far from the city bustle to relax from everyday work. In this case, the appearance of the garden path plays a huge role. Successfully selected design and materials will help this design element to emphasize the entire beauty of the landscape of the site, and vice versa, an unsuccessfully designed and poorly mounted path can lubricate the designer's efforts. Especially attractive are the tracks laid out with stones. It is desirable that the construction of tracks is part of the complex ennobling of the site, because in such an important matter, each element can not be separated, everything has its significance in the overall picture. On how to lay the stone on the tracks - later in the article.

The choice of the stone for the tracks

It is natural to invite professional builders to equip the garden paths of stone, however, if you have the spare time, a small experience of general construction works, and a minimal tool set, even an amateur can cope with it.

Special attention should be paid to choosing a stone:

• First, it must have a uniform structure, without cracks and chips.
• Secondly, one of the sides of the stone should have an absolutely smooth surface. It is she who will act as a cover for the track. Similar characteristics have a sea stone for the tracks.

Recently, a lot of popular among landscape designers have received tracks of artificial stone. Such material is much cheaper than natural, but has a more suitable geometry for laying. Modern technologies of casting and processing of concrete allow an artificial stone to have an appearance not worse, and sometimes, and better than its natural counterpart.

The advantage of the same natural stone for tracks is that it does not have chemical additives in its composition and therefore does not enter into chemical reactions that can lead to its destruction. In any case, the choice of material for the track depends on the preferences and capabilities of the host.

The device of a path from a stone by own hands

The order of works:

1. Track laying starts from the marking. This is determined by its location, width and configuration. The winding paths look pretty attractive, however, their laying is much more complicated than straight lines. For the marking, pegs and a nylon rope are used, which is stretched between them. This will allow it to remain the same width throughout the entire length of the track. When marking, you must take into account the width of the border.
2. When the marking work is finished, the upper layer of the soil is removed. Trench digging depth of at least 30 cm, as for the construction of the track will need to lay several layers of different materials.
3. The first layer on the bottom of the trench is to lay the geotextile. This material will reduce the probability of germination of weeds in the gaps between the stones and ensure a normal drainage so that excessive moisture does not accumulate between the stones, which can lead to cracks in the event of cold weather.
4. Then the layer of rubble is poured out. This material is needed as a buffer to distribute the load over the entire surface and not allow some sections of the track to fall under the ground. The layer of rubble should not be less than 15 cm. After piling it carefully rammed and leveled.
5. Then sand several layers of sand. As a rule, 2-3 layers of the same thickness is sufficient. After filling each of them, it is damped with water and compacted. This helps the sand to gain the necessary density to withstand the pressure of the stone.
6. The next step in the installation of the track is laying the stone. It is placed in such a way that the slits are as uniform as possible.
7. After finishing laying, the surface of the track is sprinkled with sand and spread out to fill the seams. Next, the path is wetted with water, so that the sand in the seams is better entrenched.

Casting artificial stone for tracks

This method has recently become quite popular. It allows you to effortlessly make beautiful garden paths that will look no less spectacular than the tracks of wild stone.

The method consists in casting an artificial stone in a special formwork. It is a stencil of various forms, both rectangular and asymmetric. Working with this form for the stone for the tracks is quite simple.

Preparation of mortar for stone casting. Used cement-sand mixture with the addition of screening. The component ratio is as follows:

• Cement - 1 part.
• River sand - 3 parts.
• Screenings - 3 parts.

Stone casting order:

1. To give a decorative look to the stone, certain dyes are added to the solution. It is also often used reinforcing additive - fiberglass, due to which the material will be more durable.
2. One batch, as a rule, is made for 20 kg of cement. Initially, the cement is poured into the pear. Then - 50-350 g of 1% ferrocyanide pigment. Depending on its amount, the tile will have a different shade.
3. Fasting is covered with sand. After that, the plasticizer is added to the solution. It serves to impart more plastic properties to the solution.
4. The last ones are added by settling and water. The output should be a mixture of the consistency of thick sour cream, in this case it will be strong and not contain air bubbles.

Installation procedure:

1. First you need to select the direction and location of the future track. Then we set the pins and pull the threads that define its boundaries.
2. Next we dig a trench. For work on casting the track under the stencil, the depth of the ditch will be 10-12 cm. After that, we set the curb.
3. Then carefully ground the soil and pour the trench with sand in several layers. In doing so, you need to try to level the pillow by level. Each layer of sand is thoroughly wetted with water.
4. After preparing the sand cushion, a mold is set on it, which is leveled.
5. Concrete mortar is poured into the installed form. So that it is evenly distributed in the cells of the mold, it is smeared with a wide spatula. The entire solution is removed from the surface of the plastic mold. When filling the cells, care should be taken to ensure that no air remains inside them. To do this, compact the concrete with a small spatula.
6. After removing excess solution, the mold is left for about 1 hour, after which it is removed and rearranged to another location where the procedure is repeated.
7. The mold should be removed neatly and evenly, so as not to damage the non-hardened concrete. Before starting work, the form must be lubricated. For this, machine work or even vegetable oil is perfect.

Alternative to stone tracks

Concrete track

The monolithic track, although it does not have such a beautiful appearance as when using stone, but the cost of its installation and operation is much less.

For casting such a track you will need:

1. Cement grade 400.
2. Sand( you can apply screening).
3. Lighthouses.

The initial stage of production is fundamentally the same as installing a path made of artificial or natural stone with slight differences. Dug the trench with rubble only, which is then carefully tamped. Before this, a curb is placed along the edges of the trench. Then the beacons are mounted, along which the screed will be leveled.

The next step is mixing the solution. For this, sand, cement and water are added to the concrete mixer. The cement to sand ratio should be about 1: 3.Ready-made concrete is poured onto the surface and, with the help of the rule, we roll out according to the level of the lighthouses. The path can be safely used after 3-4 days depending on the weather conditions.

For this operation, it is better to choose a non-hot day. The fact is that if moisture quickly evaporates from concrete, it will lose some of its strength.

Wooden walks

Recently, the paths made of wooden slices have become very popular. They are especially beautiful in the gardens. This track has a number of drawbacks, the main one of which is the features of the tree. Without proper processing, this material can not serve for a long time. That is why the procedure for applying anticorrosive composition is mandatory.

For the preparation of material, it is necessary to take the tree trunk and cut it into circles up to 50 mm thick with a chainsaw. Prior to this, it is desirable to clean the surface of the trunk from knots and branches. Once the slices are ready, they need to be processed. For this, an antiseptic and drying oil is used. Processing should be done 2-3 times. After this, a pillow is prepared for laying the wooden sections. To do this, it is necessary to excavate a trench up to 20 cm deep. Then it is poured with gravel or crushed stone. After filling each layer, the material must be carefully compacted and leveled.

The next step is laying the wooden tiles. The gaps between its parts are not very important. Here it is necessary to focus on the size of the step of those people who will walk along this path. After laying pieces of wood, the gaps between them are poured with fine pebbles. Unlike a stone, it is better not to pour a wooden surface with sand. Firstly, it does not look as impressive as pebbles, and secondly, sand can damage the ends of wooden tiles.

Stone tracks: photo ideas for decoration