The garden is like a paradise for today's dynamic person. A place for rest and relaxation, for a restart of the senses. However, this can only be achieved if the garden is well maintained and designed. One of the mandatory conditions for enjoying a welcoming paradise is the design of alleys and areas. And this can easily be done with garden flooring.
If you think of your garden as a whole, and not separately as a relaxation area, flowers, green areas, and paths, it will be easier for you to make it cozy and beautiful. The choice of garden flooring depends on the plantings, the location of the individual areas, and how busy the paths will be.
When you want to add new paving to an already established garden, consider the style of the garden. Get paving that matches the natural paths in your yard, don't try to change them. Just consider widening them, especially if you use a stroller or if your children don't have their own play area and tend to place their toys on them.
Choose a paving that is easy to maintain and can withstand loads and different weather conditions. While you are thinking about where to plant what flowers, don't forget to decide what type of garden paving will be most suitable. Determine everything in advance - texture, color, durability, need for maintenance.
In both cases, it is a good idea to consider the style of the main building.
GARDEN FLOORING IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF YARD AND GARDEN DESIGN
The decision on the type of paving of the alleys and platforms, regardless of their type and size, are an indispensable and important part of shaping the design in the garden. Unlike road surfaces, they are not only communication links, but also an element that requires appropriate decorative design. Moreover, they participate in the construction of the garden as a complete and precisely developed ensemble.
With the help of a certain type and color of paving, individual thematic corners can be formed, as well as the paved area itself can become an object for contemplation and an accent in itself. In a professionally designed garden by a landscape architect, the paving can be an additional element for its individual sound. Paving is related to the composition, sizing, choice of materials, as well as the laying technology.
HOW TO CHOOSE GARDEN FLOORING?
The client's wishes and the type of garden are decisive for deciding on the type of paving. When searching for the most appropriate compositional solution, the key factors are the practical, functional, aesthetic and, last but not least, financial arguments. The design of the paving in the yard as a stage is best done in parallel with the design of the building. This way, the overall harmony in the design of the site will not be disturbed.
The paving in the garden should be in accordance with its functional division into zones. They should be provided where they are needed. Simpler solutions include a path to the house, a platform in front of the entrance to the house and the living room and a possible connection between them. Sometimes the more saturated presence of paths and platforms in the garden is aimed at obtaining a creative drawing of the yard space.
Paving should be tailored to the age of the garden - if they are built over existing vegetation, it is crucial that it is preserved, and that the blocks fit organically into the green space, without trying to subjugate or take over it.
The decision on the pavements, as well as the size of the paths and platforms, is related to their purpose. The first thing you need to consider is which paths are main, which are secondary, which are for car traffic, which are pedestrian, which will be used by children. The “main artery” is from the entrance to the yard to the entrance to the house.
The criterion for the width of such a path in a single-family house is that at least two people can move along it, which is from 90 to 120 cm. The purpose of secondary paths is to have easy access to all areas of the garden. They are usually narrower - from 60 to 70 cm. The size of the paths largely determines the type of flooring that we should choose.
TYPES OF GARDEN FLOORING
There are several main types of pavements - unsealed, slab pavements, paving slabs, concrete block and slab pavements, and grassed pavements.
- Unsealed – they are built from ballast, slag, river stones, crushed stone. Their main characteristics are that they allow water to pass into the lower soil layers and do not overheat in the summer, providing a favorable water-air regime for vegetation. They are made of natural materials, are easy to build, are cheap, but are more difficult to maintain. The thickness of such a pavement is taken into account in the expected load on the driveway. For paths, the thickness is 8-10 cm, and for cars - 15-20 cm.
- Slabs - they are a material that is very popular for building garden flooring. In the past, slabs were only made of natural stone. Now the assortment has been enriched with many types of slabs made of natural and artificial materials - granite, ceramics, etc. Slabs in the garden make an incredible contribution to the spectacular design of the garden. There are many different types of natural stone - sandstone, slate, gneiss, limestone. Their surface is rough and very suitable for flooring in the yard. You can find them rectangular, square or in an irregular shape.
- Natural stone - is extracted from quarries by splitting or machine cutting. It has been used for thousands of years and represents one of the earliest human technologies - the ability to build passable roads. The durability of such a pavement can outlive us. Each stone is a unique, natural product with a texture and color determined by the millennial geological process, not by modern chemical dyes. However, if you decide to use such a pavement, you will encounter a big problem in the price. Natural stone is much more expensive than concrete pavement and even second-hand has a rather high price.
- Natural limestone slabs (travertine) - they carry the Mediterranean style and are very suitable for classic and contemporary design. They have been especially popular in Greece, Italy and Turkey since ancient times. Limestone has its own character that cannot be mistaken. The new limestone slabs have a smooth surface and different textures, colors and shapes and are suitable for professional design developments.
- Concrete blocks or tiles – they are very popular due to their low price and the possibility of varying shapes, sizes, and colors, depending on their purpose. Their surface can be smooth or embossed. This type of flooring is not recommended for narrow paths and small yard spaces, as it overloads the vision.
In addition to the standard and popular rectangular tiles, there are also those with special shapes for planting grass, imitation of old paving stones that look like antiques, as well as a very wide range of different textures. These concrete products can be colored with special powder dyes and additionally treated with a brush and water after casting, so as to obtain a texture that is rough.
Another way to shape concrete is to cut squares while the concrete is wet to resemble tiles. Concrete can also be cast in a variety of shapes and patterns. Concrete blocks can be made into brick forms, which can be laid in the same way as bricks. Traditional laying methods include herringbone, basket weave, and interlocking kits that form their own pattern, row by row.
- Paving stones – they belong to the smaller paving materials. Their size and shape predispose to the arrangement of ornaments and figures, typical of decorative paving. When they are precisely executed, they become a very effective yard paving. If the paving is intended for cars, it is allowed to be more roughly arranged. Paving stones are made of all kinds of rocks. This paving can be very successfully combined with other materials for a greater decorative effect.
Choosing a combination of flooring can create a unique and individual environment in your yard. Combining two or more types of materials in the flooring is a prerequisite for an impressive decorative effect.
CONCRETE IS PREFERRED. ADVANTAGES OF CONCRETE PRODUCTS
Concrete is the most produced building material in the world. This is due on the one hand to its natural origin, and on the other hand to its enormous durability. So we can still admire, for example, the Pantheon in Rome, built 2000 years ago from concrete.
Concrete is an intelligent mixture of lime, cement and water with inert materials such as sand or gravel. The concrete slabs we offer are produced with individual additives and colored pigments that give the concrete particularly high resistance or a special appearance.
Concrete is made from natural materials and has the properties of a natural product - when heated, the material expands slightly and when cold, it contracts. The fact that concrete "lives" is evident from the patina that forms on concrete products over time and gives the material a more noble and natural appearance.
Concrete is an environmentally friendly building material that does not pollute the environment during production and use and can be completely recycled.
Advantages:
With the variety of shapes, colors and surface structures of our concrete products, we give your home an exceptional individuality. In addition, other special advantages of concrete products are high resistance, easy cleaning and long life.
- Beauty of shapes and colors: concrete products are anything but uniform. They offer rich and flexible individual design options through color, shape and surface.
- Easy repairs: if excavation work is required, the slabs are easily re-laid. The excavation site is no different from the surrounding area.
- High resistance: concrete products withstand even the highest temperatures. Preservation of the coarse-grained structure, as well as high resistance, preventing cracks and deformations, are other properties characteristic of concrete.
- Frost and alkali resistance: with concrete products, spring will come without cracks and deformations. SEMMELROCK products are frost and alkali resistant.
