Paving Design Ideas Using Popular Garden Paving Patterns.
This article discusses paving design ideas for your garden, with the most popular paving designs illustrated for laying pavers along a path, under a verandah, for a driveway and around a pool.
You’ll also read about the steps licensed paving contractors “Visual Landscape Gardening” use with suggestions you can adopt for having pavers laid in your garden.
Paving Pattern Designs
The 4 most popular paving pattern designs laid across Adelaide are:
- Basket Weave
- Herringbone
- Stack Bond
- Stretcher Bond, sometimes referred to as Brick Bond
All of these paving designs can be laid either 90° or 45° to the edges and depending on the application can include a row of edging pavers, perhaps in a contrasting colour too. The paving pattern illustrations below show rectangular pavers being used, however you may wish to use square pavers instead.
Basket weave
Herringbone
Stretcher Bond
Stack Bond
Paving Design Ideas For Paths
Paving designs for footpaths or walkways are varied and if the pavers are only to be subjected to just foot traffic, the paving pattern is decided purely on personal choice. ‘Stack bond’ and ‘stretcher bond’ designs are often used where a path forms a straight line which limits or eliminates the need for cutting the pavers to fit the width.
Paving Design Ideas For Under A Verandah
When choosing paving patterns under a verandah, you need to consider the size of the area and what type of traffic or weight the verandah pavers will have to withstand. ‘Stretcher bond’ is a popular choice for verandas, especially for small areas, with ‘basket weave’ and ‘herringbone’ popular for larger areas, and because of their interlocking design are able to handle more movement from wheels turning on them than a ‘stack bond’ laid paving design.
Paving Design Ideas For A Driveway
Paving patterns for a driveway should have the pavers interlocking for lasting results. Weight is a consideration and even if you don’t have a truck on them regularly, delivery trucks can be the cause of some damage if their weight is not taken into consideration.
Thicker 50-60mm driveway pavers are used with ‘herringbone’ and ‘basket weave’ paving designs for extra strength and are the two most popular driveway paving patterns. A ‘basket weave’ design using clay bricks looks visually stunning, as does ‘herringbone’ using two colours. If you decide to use ‘stack bond’ or ‘stretcher bond’ paving designs there should be a row of edge pavers laid on a cement base to stop the turning wheels of a heavy vehicle from shifting the pavers.
Paving Design Ideas For Around A Pool
Paving pattern designs for around a pool generally incorporate large format pavers that are laid either using a ‘stretcher bond’ or ‘herringbone’ pattern for larger areas. Depending on the theme you are trying to create, slate could be used in a ‘crazy pattern’ design.
Notes on Laying Pavers:
The key to laying pavers is preparation. Visual Landscape Gardening don’t take shortcuts when it comes to correctly preparing the base your pavers will be laid on. As a general rule of thumb and depending on the ground make-up below, 100mm of earth is removed and replaced with quarry sand which is then compacted to provide a strong level surface on which the pavers are then laid.
Over time, especially with heavy clay soils, all pavers will move to some degree as the seasons change, so pavers should be laid with at least a small gap between them to avoid the paver edges from chipping.
There is some debate amongst paving contractors as to what should be placed in between the pavers to fill this gap. Washed sand is often used, swept between the pavers because if it does come out when you wash your pavers, more sand can easily be added to re-fill the gap.
Sometimes a mortar mix is used and can be coloured to match the paver colour you have selected. Mortar between the joints does provide a strong joint, helping to hold the pavers in place, but may crack under load or as the pavers move, which is harder to fix.
Pave-Lok is a product made by Boral that is preferred by Visual Landscape Gardening because it forms a strong interlocking joint but also provides some flexibility. It’s not easily washed out, prevents weeds from growing through and is almost as easy to replace as sand if you have to.
Visual Landscape Gardening are licensed paving contractors Adelaide home owners and commercial businesses have used for over 30 years, with an extensive paving portfolio.
Garden Landscaping Golden Grove
Paver Maintenance
Complete Guide To Choosing Pavers For Your Garden
