Without beautiful garden paths, it is impossible to get a neat design of the site. The material for their creation is usually clinker bricks, paving stones, decorative tiles or concrete. Sometimes more exotic and unusual elements are used: wood, grass, gravel, etc. To complete the design of the path itself, borders are used. In most cases, this element is required. About what are the borders for the tracks, and we'll talk further. We will also examine in detail the technologies by which this element of landscape design can be made.
Destination
The garden border performs several functions at once:
- gives the track design a dramatic finished look;
- prevents the growth of lawn grass;
- strengthens the edges of the track;
- prevents meltwater from entering the track.
Types of garden borders
This track element is made from a variety of materials: brick, concrete, wood, metal, plastic or even plants. Very beautifulit can look like a ready-made, store-bought border, or assembled on your own. In size, these elements are high and low, wide and narrow. The most important thing when choosing a material is to try to make the curb fit as harmoniously as possible into the design of the track, as well as the entire site as a whole.
Using bricks
It is very easy to assemble such borders for tracks with your own hands. This material is usually used if the path itself is lined with stone or filled with concrete. Most often, not an ordinary brick, but a facing brick is chosen for the device of the curb. This material is characterized by increased strength and resistance to adverse environmental factors.
The technology for making brick borders is very simple. In most cases, this element is assembled before paving or pouring the path itself. First, the contours of its passage are marked on the ground. Further, small trenches are dug along them (about 2/3 of the brick height deep). At the bottom, you can pour some sand or gravel. In this case, the trench should be dug deeper.
The bricks themselves are not installed vertically, but at an angle, so that the edge of the curb is "jagged".
Application of wood
Borders for paths of this type fit very well into the design of areas in Provence, country, Russian, Ukrainian, etc. Elements of this material are usually framed by paths lined with wood or gravel, as well as simply sown with short grass. Sometimes, for the manufacture of such a border, a board is used, placed on the end in trenches dug along the edges, or a bar. However, these tracks do not look very solid. In addition, boards and even beams are short-lived materials.
Churbak borders look much more spectacular and original. The latter can be sawn independently from thick branches or thin tree trunks, or you can purchase ready-made material in a store. In purchased curbs, logs are tied with wire and come already processed from rotting and insects. Therefore, they are much easier to install.
As in the case of bricks, the curb of blocks is assembled before laying out the path itself. After marking, a trench is also dug. Sawn logs are treated with an antiseptic. It is very good to smear that edge of them, which will be in the ground, with drying oil or used engine oil. The material prepared in this way is simply installed vertically in the trench.
In order to make these DIY path borders neat and attractive, logs can be coated with wood oil. Varnish for this purpose is better not to use. Even imported products of this type do not tolerate high humidity too well.
Concrete border
This is one of the most popular and durable types. The depth of the trench along the edges of the path under such a curb should be about 4 cm. The optimal height and width of concrete strips is 20 x 15 cm. It is not necessary to arrange a sand or gravel substrate under such a curb. Enoughwill simply level the bottom of the trench. You can lay it with some kind of waterproofing material, for example roofing material. Blocks or paving stones are installed close to the trench.
You can also fill the curbs for the tracks with your own hands from concrete yourself. In this case, formwork will need to be done. For its manufacture, plywood or (if the path has bends) sheets of thick tin are suitable. After pouring, the top of the concrete curb is carefully leveled using a spirit level.
How to prepare concrete mix
The solution is prepared as follows:
- Pour sand and dry cement into the trough and mix thoroughly.
- Add water so that the mixture is neither too thick nor too runny.
The proportion of sand/cement should be 4/1. Ready borders several times a day - at least for a week - should be watered with water from a hose or from a bucket. Otherwise, they will crack.
Wicker elements
Such a border for a path in the country house looks very beautiful and unusual. To make it, you need to prepare:
- thin logs;
- many willow twigs (same length);
- hard wooden sticks.
Churbak dug along the path at a distance equal to the length of the willow twigs. Sticks are stuck between them. Next, wicker rods are braided. It is better to soak them first, then it will be more convenient to work. For weaving, rods are used in several pieces (2-3 each). Each beam is carried out behind the firststick, then before the second, etc. You can fasten the rods together with a thin wire. After the first section is ready, start weaving the second.
Plastic edging for garden paths
This ready-made option can last a very long time and is elementary to install. They are plastic borders - a flexible wide tape, usually sold in bobbins. To facilitate cutting, it must be unwound and laid out on a plot in the sun. Further along the future path, a narrow groove is dug about 8 cm deep.
A plastic border is installed in it. For tracks, you can use a tape of any color. The main thing is that the shade harmoniously fits into the design of the site. Usually these borders are green. But yellow, and gray, and any others can look beautiful. The installed tape is dug in with earth and compacted.
"Living" border
This is the most beautiful and most difficult to perform option. For the manufacture of a "live" curb, it is best to use plants such as horizontal cotoneaster or boxwood. In order for the path to turn out to be harmonious, the width of the green ribbon should not exceed 30 cm. In this case, a curb is arranged simply by planting plants at a short distance from each other. The grown bushes should subsequently close tightly.
Of course, unlike the usual, a "live" curb for garden paths will require much more maintenance. It'll have toperiodically (2-3 times per season) cut and water. Borders from ornamental herbaceous undersized plants also look very beautiful. In this case, long narrow flower beds are simply arranged along the edges of the path.
Metal border
This is also quite beautiful and at the same time very durable option. Such curbs for tracks can be made of aluminum, copper, steel and are well suited for a site whose design is made in the style of minimalism. Purchased versions of such ribbons can be decorated with embossing, have curly edges, that is, they look very attractive. Installing this type of curb is an extremely simple procedure. The tape simply digs in along the edges of the track in a strictly vertical position.
How to make a bottle walkway border
Using this junk material, you can arrange a curb even for the longest path in just a couple of hours. Of course, it will not be especially beautiful, but it will cost a penny. In order to make a border, the bottles are simply dug into the ground with their necks down. You can diversify the design of the ribbon by using material of different colors. It is advisable to cut off the neck of the bottles before instillation. You need to dig them in to half the height.
The advantages of such curbs for tracks include not only cheapness, but also durability. Plastic won't rot like wood or rust like metal.
As you can see, the manufacture of curbs for the track is the simplest procedure in most cases. If you do everything slowly, it will work outvery effective element of landscape design, durable and reliable.
