Better Homes and Gardens
Gather your supplies
100 x 25mm x 4.8m treated pine garden edging
Road base
Brickie’s sand
Cement mix
Pavers (we used 600 x 600mm concrete pavers)
River pebbles
Turf underlay soil
Turf (we used Sir Walter Buffalo)
You’ll also need
Lump hammer; stringline; pegs; spirit level; treated pine screws; plate compactor (hired); rubber mallet; wheelbarrow; screed; trowel; turf starter fertiliser
Those strips beside houses are usually the most neglected part of a garden – which is fine if you don’t see them. But when they also serve as a path to the front door, they need to look good as well as offer easy access. If you combine pavers, pebbles and lawn, you’ll have a practical and attractive solution. With an interesting mix of surface textures and colours, it’s easy to build and easy to maintain.
Here’s how
Step 1
Remove existing turf, if necessary, and level area. Mark path outline (ours measured 1m wide) and excavate to a depth that allows for height of paver, plus 70mm of road base (see Easy Excavation, below). Using lump hammer, knock in a peg at each end of path’s length, then run stringline between each peg.
Step 2
Hammer in pegs along stringline, spaced about 800mm apart. To keep pegs straight, hold hammer in line with stringline as you hit them in.
Step 3
Screw treated pine edging on edge to pegs, ensuring pegs are sitting inside path and timber forms outer dividing edge.
Step 4
Spread road base to a depth of about 90mm over side to be paved. Rake level.
Step 5
Using plate compactor, compact road base to 70mm deep. Add 4 parts brickie’s sand and 1 part cement mix to wheelbarrow. Blend thoroughly, then slowly add water until mixture is stiff.
Step 6
Spread a bed of mortar for first paver to sit on. Position paver on top and use spirit level to check it is sitting at same level as pine edging (if not, remove paver and adjust mortar accordingly). Tap paver with rubber mallet to ensure it beds down into mortar. Repeat, using timber spacers (such as additional lengths of treated pine garden edging) between each paver as you proceed along length of path.
Step 7
Leave mortar to dry, then infill around pavers with river pebbles, using a shovel, to just below treated pine edging.
Step 8
Prepare area beside path for laying turf by spreading about 50mm of turf underlay soil, raking level as you go.
Step 9
To ensure underlay soil is completely level, use screed (or straightedge of a length of timber).
Step 10
Scatter a layer of turf starter fertiliser over prepared soil, then commence laying turf. For this narrow area, we first laid a long header course of turf along perimeter of pathway, and then infilled remaining zone with horizontally-laid strips. Use a sharp knife to trim turf as required.
Step 11
Firmly tap down turf using back of a shovel, to ensure good contact between roots and soil, and to flatten joins. Water thoroughly all over. To help your new lawn establish, water it at least every 2 days for the first couple of weeks, then reduce to about 2-3 times a week. To protect new grass and keep it looking its best for the year ahead, mow gently for the first few months, being careful to remove only a small amount of the grass height each time.
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