Garden paths and steps in Redcar

Garden paths

Paths take more foot traffic than almost anything else in the garden, often in the wet and the dark. Things to get right:

• Width. Wide enough to walk side by side or push a wheelbarrow, and to wheel the bins out. Too narrow and you end up with a muddy strip either side.
• Route. Follow the line people really take, or they will cut across the lawn anyway.
• Material. Porcelain, Indian sandstone, concrete slabs, resin-bound or stepping stones in lawn or gravel. Matching the patio ties it all together.
• Edging and drainage. Proper edging stops a path spreading, and a slight cross-fall stops water lying on it.
• Lighting. If you want low lights along the path, plan the cable runs before it goes down.

A path is built like a patio: dug out, a compacted sub-base, then slabs bedded on mortar or a resin layer on a sound base.

Front paths

Paving more than five square metres of a front garden with a hard surface that drains onto the road or pavement can need planning permission. A porous surface such as resin-bound, or letting rainwater run onto a lawn or border, normally keeps you within the rules. A simple path to the front door rarely runs into this.

Garden steps

Plenty of gardens round here are not flat. Skelton, Brotton, Loftus and parts of Guisborough sit on rising ground, and plenty of back gardens slope up or down from the house. Good steps make a slope usable and stay safe in rain and frost:

1. Equal risers. Every step the same height, so nobody trips on the odd one out.
2. Generous treads, deep enough to take a whole foot.
3. A firm footing under the bottom step and solid construction behind each riser.
4. Grip. Textured slabs or a nosing on the front edge, particularly in shade where steps go green.
5. Drainage, so water runs off each tread instead of sitting there and freezing.

Steps often come with low walls either side to hold back the soil, or with a raised patio that needs a way down to the lawn.

Questions people ask