The Walks of Your Garden 



FTT PATT Landscape 

 . I!. UUl 1 , Architect 



Perhaps You Have Never Thought How Much the Pathway is Part of the Picture. 



Choice of Materials and Their Relative Merits 



Here are Some Suggestions for 



WHERE shall the walks be and of what 

 shall they be made?" is (the insistent 

 problem as soon as a garden is decided 

 on. The first part of the question is 

 entirely one of design, in which beauty, conven- 

 ience and drainage are the prin- 

 cipal factors to be considered and 

 must be solved for each individual 

 garden. There can be no general 

 rule laid down. 



1 he second half of the question 

 is more easily answered as there 

 is only a limited number of ma- 

 terials which can be used to make 

 appropriate garden walks. Let us 

 at once eliminate wood and ce- 

 ment from the list of suitable 

 materials; the first because it is 

 neither lasting nor attractive and 

 the second because it is cold, hard 

 and off color and looks out of 

 place among the flowers and foli- 

 age of a garden. 



This leaves us with the follow- 

 ing materials from which to chose: 

 — grass, dirt, gravel or crushed 

 stone, stone, brick. 



walk more than four feet wide, give it a crown of 

 one half inch per foot from centre to side and run a 

 line of four inch farm tile with open joints along 

 the sides of the walk eight or ten inches under 

 the surface. 



Z^ 1 RASS walks are of value 

 ^-* where plenty of space is 

 available and where the drainage 

 is good. They should be from four to six feet 

 wide and slightly crowned in the centre so as to 

 shed as much water as possible. A grass walk 

 is always attractive, blending well with its sur- 

 roundings in the garden. It is a restful walk 

 with no hard lines and with pleasing color. Its 

 faults are that it is often wet, requiring the use of 

 rubbers, and that it needs considerable care. The 

 upkeep of a grass walk is more than for either 

 brick or stone as it requires mowing, clipping, and, 

 in dry weather, sprinkling. 



In the second place dirt walks, made usually 

 of clay, are cheap and durable but are not things 

 of beauty and even when properly drained are 

 always more or less slippery after a rain. If, 

 however, a clay walk is to be built the following 

 principles should be observed: — Do not make the 



In a brick walk the pattern of laying offers a variety of 



ome degree controls the width. Brick is serviceable at 

 all seasons 



The walk of broken stone in irregular shapes is in harmony with the construction of 

 and always lends a feeling of rusticity. Dwarf rock plants may be set between 



/TRAVEL or crushed stone walks are satis- 

 V factory in many instances. The construc- 

 tion of these is the same, but to my mind 

 a surfacing of carefully screened and crushed 

 gravel is far more attractive and less artificial 

 than one of crushed stone. Either will make a 

 good, serviceable, homelike walk which will re- 

 quire but little attention further than going ovei 

 it once or twice a year to destroy the weeds. 

 To build a gravel walk properly one should ex- 

 cavate the earth to a depth of six inches, run a 

 line of farm tile with open joints along either side 

 of walk below this grade (See sketch). Fill in 

 four inches with coarse stone, brick, pieces of 

 concrete or the like, and thoroughly roll or tamp 

 until solid. Over this foundation spread a two 

 inch layer of coarse clay gravel which will fill 

 the interstices between the foundation stones 

 and act as a binder. This too should be thor- 

 oughly rolled or tamped. When the rolling has 

 continued until a hard, compact surface is secured 

 the top course of either gravel or crushed stone 

 is spread lightly over the surface. The edges of 

 the walk should be a little below the sod along 

 its sides for if the walk is at the same level or a 

 little above the turf the gravel is sure to wash off 

 of the walk and cause trouble when the grass is 

 cut. 



^\NE of the most popular materials for 

 ^-^ garden walks are old flag stones. These 

 are broken or cut into pieces ranging from 

 ten to twenty inches across and are laid directly 

 on the ground. There are two patterns in which 

 the stones are laid; one where the stone is broken 

 with a hammer and odd shaped pieces fitted 

 together like a picture puzzle; the other where 

 the flags are cut into rectangular pieces of varying 

 size. In both styles a wide joint is left, usually 

 an inch or an inch and a half in width which is 

 filled with grass. The stones are laid directly 

 on the ground only excavating enough to make 

 them lie flush with the turf on the sides of the 

 walk. The joints are filled with good loam and 

 strips of sod are tamped in between the stones. 



A broken stone walk is always attractive and 

 the wide grass joints relieve the hardness of a 

 solid stone walk. This type of walk has been so 

 extensively used in some places that the supply 

 of old flag stones is nearly exhausted. 



168 



13 RICK walks, though expensive, have many 

 *-* points to recommend them. They are dur- 

 able, require little attention, harmonize well with 

 the green foliage and give a warm touch of color 

 to the garden. In general brick walks should be 

 laid on straight lines or in large 

 sweeping curves , and never in 

 curves of a short radius. 



Brick walks should all have a 

 concrete foundation with the edge 

 bricks set in cement, but the bricks 

 composing the rest of the walk 

 can have either a cement or sand 

 joint. 



Excavate the earth along the 

 line of the walk to a depth of eight 

 inches and give a concrete founda- 

 tion of five inches, consisting of a 

 mixture of one part portland ce- 

 ment, two parts sand, and three 

 parts crushed stone or coarse 

 gravel. This should have approx- 

 imately the same crown as the 

 finished walk will have — about 

 one half inch per foot from centre 

 to side is the average. 



On this spread evenly a layer of 

 sand to act as a cushion for the 

 brick. The brick are then laid on 

 this sand cushion and the joints 

 are filled with clean, sharp sand 

 which is worked in by sweeping. A walk of this 

 kind should always have a border brick set in 

 concrete in order to hold the other bricks in 

 place. These border bricks can be set either on 

 end or sideways and the concrete should be 

 carried up some distance at the back of the 

 brick. 



the terrace wall, 

 the pieces 



TPHERE are several 

 -*- brick of a walk 



patterns in which the 

 a walk may be laid. They can 

 be laid in rows either parallel or at right angles 

 to the walk. They can be laid basket weave or 

 herring bone. Of the latter there are two varie- 

 ties, known as the right angle and the forty-five 

 degree herring bone. The first of these is laid 

 parallel and at right angles to the walk and re- 

 quires less cutting of the brick than the forty-five 



The grass walk has a distinctively "garden" quality, but is not 

 always a practical one for all-year service as it becomes wet 

 and soft 



