From a sandy Patch to a pretty Garden Pathway

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(Edited)

Our conundrum was what to do with a narrow sloping sandy walkway next to the garden cottage cum bnb that is in a shaded area. There is no need for anyone to walk there, but it needed some sprucing up!
We had spent quite a bit in the past on planting sods of shade grass, tried it on two occasions but the gorgeous thick green grass soon turned into a dull straw colour until it eventually died!

We soon realised we would have to do something different and use manmade material; someone's suggestion of artificial grass however was a definite no-no!

Hubby who is a retired civil engineer, decided to build a permeable walkway on the side of the garden cottage, between the concrete boundary wall and the one side of the cottage, using a concrete grass block filled with pebbles, not grass!

This image below shows the pathway with the cottage wall on the left hand side - the cottage was built with pink quartzite sheared blocks; enhanced by colours used in the pathway.
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When I first saw these concrete grass blocks, they were an ugly dark colour, but that was because it was not properly cured at that stage.

I was totally ignorant of the amount of work that had to be done before the pretty pathway would be complete and we could start planting in the existing planters we built previously in an attempt to grow vegetables! Of course not having enough sun there plus having wild monkeys that troop through the garden, we had very little crop, so gave up on that!

The pathway was built on a slightly sloped area which had to be shaped before the trench was dug.

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Hubby explained that the trench had to be dug in the centre of the pathway, for the placing of a French drain consisting of a geo-pipe placed in a stone wrapped geo-fabric.
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This was to catch run-off and seepage water during heavy rainfall to prevent erosion of the natural ground.

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There was an existing inlet grid at the top of the walkway to collect surface water from the paved patio. This inlet is connected to an existing storm-water pipe and the new geo-pipe was connected into this pipe lower down which leads into a large soak-pit hubby built years previously.

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The ground was now finally shaped and at the right level, in readiness for the placing of the blocks.
Not until it was covered with a geo-fabric topped with Umgeni sand!

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I stopped asking questions and checking progress at this stage as I was only interested in seeing the job completed!

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This is when I became interested again!
The grass blocks were filled with a combination of concrete stones at the bottom and Duzi pebbles on top.

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We're being very careful in selecting shade plants and have started planting. We're sure this area will be as lush as the rest of our garden soon, but are very happy with the way this pathway has turned out, although that section of the garden is still a work in progress as we now have a large Wild Plum Tree that's roots are starting to pop up from underground just around the corner from the pathway, so that will be our next project.

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I would never have guessed all that work would be under that pretty walkway! Perhaps that was NOT done for a walkway at my house, which is now sloped and rutted and downright uneven all over.

I really like your new walkway!

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Water can do massive damage if not controlled. We live on a sloping property below the road so put in quite a storm water system underground to protect our structures as well as the neighbour below us.
The walkway has turned out really pretty, I was getting so impatient as I didn't realize all the work that had to take place underneath it😆 I can't wait for the plants to grow more lush.
Thank you for your valued comments @owasco

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It. is. simply. Amazing. Wowwwww! The post picture attracted me to jump into the post.

There is always a solution to every problem and the solution your husband designed for your pathway made it amiazingly beautiful.

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Thank you so very much for your wonderful response, I'm so glad I finally wrote about this project as it may help or inspire others who are planning a garden pathway😉

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The entire work has been done nicely and that too in a planned way. You have also taken nice pictures and shown everything about the work. thanks.

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Hubby is a perfectionist, glad you enjoyed it!

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Well done @lizelle ! We're happy to inform you that this publication was specially curated and awarded Runner-up in Architecture Brew #34. Congratulations!

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Subscribe to Architecture+Design, an OCD incubated community.

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Wow thank you for this honour @aplusd, really appreciate this community!

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It must have taken 10 minutes to finish 😁

I am French and I still don't know what a French drain is, watch out he doesn't start chain smoking and drinking red wine!

The end result is stunning by the way!

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LOL, I thought it was a day's job, never realized there was so much involved in a simple footpath 😉
You're a Frenchman, LOL you should be telling us what a French drain is; it's all there in the pics, I really can't tell you why it's called by that name😅 Thanks for the nice comments.

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So...it wasn't a French invention, it was an American with that surname who invented it😉
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Hello @lizelle the pathway looks amazing and nicely done.
Keep flourishing.

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We are happy with the way it turned out @praditya,it's always nice seeing you here, thanks for popping in 🤗

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Hello dear @lizelle that's a beautiful pathways with all those plants on it's side.Happy that your work turned out really well.
Stay blessed, have a wonderful day:)

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Hey @sahiba-rana, great seeing you. We are very happy with the final results, thank you for popping in, have a great day as well 🤗

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Great job you helped me to clear several doubts and have some ideas !!!! Thanks for sharing it🍃🍃🍃

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Thank you for visiting, glad this has helped you.

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