Top Tips for Choosing Paving for Your Garden

If you have a garden, it’s important to keep up with essential maintenance work to ensure that you have a tidy, pleasant outdoor space to enjoy during the summer months. This includes weeding, feeding plants, pruning shrubs, even treating your wooden fences and gates to help them last and remain durable in the changing weather, and mowing your lawn. 

If you are looking for something a little easier to manage, you might want to consider paving either the entire garden area or a large portion of it so that you don’t have to worry about taking care of a lawn or a lot of flowerbeds. Make sure you search ‘Minnesota pavers‘ (or wherever you live) to ensure you find the best deals and rates possible.

Here are some tips on how to choose the right paving for your garden and what you will need to lay it properly.

1. What’s Your Budget?

Certain stones will be more costly than others, so it’s important to think about a price range that you’re comfortable sticking to. You should then measure the area that you want to pave so you can make an accurate cost, as prices are often per meter square, or you will need to at least know these measurements to see exactly how many paving slabs you will need in each pack, etc. 

2. Quality, Style, and Finish

While budget is important, so is the quality of the paving that you’re choosing. Sandstone is a great choice, and it is budget-friendly too. If you are happy to spend a little more on your garden paving, other options that will look stylish too include slate, limestone, or porcelain. You can also get different finishes on your paving that can alter the look, so ask what these options are when you go in-store to order and ask to see some examples. Some packs come with different size paving slabs as well, and this can create a more interesting pattern if you want that kind of look as part of your garden design.

3. Other Tools and Materials

As well as the paving slabs, you’ll need the right cement and grouting to lay them, as well as hardcore rubble to place underneath to help keep things even. You can find specialist grouting equipment at arbourlandscapesolutions.co.uk and similar stores. You may also need a cement mixer which you can hire or have someone else with you to help to do this in a large container to it doesn’t solidify. Sledgehammers might also be useful if you are breaking up the old paving slabs that you can use as hardcore if you don’t want to buy any or make it easier to get rid of them. 

4. Keeping the Area Dry

It’s ideal for laying your new paving in dry weather, but you might want to consider investing in some tarp or another waterproof material to place over the worksite in case it does rain. Try to avoid standing on your paving slabs once you have laid them for at least 24 hours to allow the cement to set properly and keep your new paved area even.

If you would like to pave all or part of your garden, whether that’s to make it a low-maintenance area to care for or due to style preference, use these tips to find the perfect paving and lay it properly.