Choosing the right paving for your garden can be a tricky choice because there are so many kinds, designs and materials available; types of common materials include concrete, gravel, paving stones, limestone, granite, sandstone, and slate.
Add that to a choice of reputable companies and the choice gets more confusing. The paving is often the most expensive part of the outside look of your house, so you want to get it right.
With some tips, you can be on your way to choosing and constructing the best paving that suits your garden.
The stress added to choosing the right material with just the right colour and pattern for your garden doesn’t only impact the finishing look. Choosing the right material is the most essential choice that you will need to make for your garden and, but how you do it is totally up to you.
Here, we’ll give you the three biggest factors to take into consideration when choosing.
Tip 1 – Foot Fall and Traffic Weight
Depending on how much and how heavy the traffic will be on the paving, it will determine a to a great extent which type of material is suitable.
A veranda or patio obviously differs when compared to a driveway for cars, which needs something strong to withstand the weight of vehicles coming and going and remaining parked for extended periods of time.
If, for example, you’re paving around a swimming pool area, you might like to look into something slip-resistant, like slate.
Concrete, while a common and affordable choice, is sometimes prone to cracks and breaks and is not always suitable for car driveways as paving stones are nearly 4x stronger.
There is really no one best type of paving, but there is a best type of paving for what you need it for.
Tip 2 – Surrounding Area
You need paving that suits the exterior of the house and the surrounding area. While the durability of your pave way is important, so is its appearance.
There are many companies that will be available in your area, Bristol Driveway Services would be a good starting point if you’re in that area, and one that I have personally used before, to get an idea of what services these kinds of companies offer.
Some people want to extend the paving of an existing pavement, so in that case, they would need something that matches.
Others might want to match a colour to the hue of the house’s exterior. Does your house have a classic or more modern edgy feel to it? This too will play a role in your choice. You want something that complements the house, not clashes with it.
There is a cool colour matching visual that can help you to work out which are the best colours to use together.
The rule of thumb is for larger areas, use larger slabs to keep measurements to scale, while smaller areas use smaller slabs like cobbles.
Tip 3 – Draw The Landscape
It’s not enough to imagine. You need to know what will be placed in your garden area and where and work around those items.
Whether there are or will be trees and plants, or a small fountain, or barbecue area, for example, these are items that you want to show off in your garden and give them an enhanced appearance with the type, design, and colour of your paving.
You might want to work with a professional landscaper or do it on your own. In either case, the pave way is meant to be worked around items, not obstructing them or getting in the way.
You cannot rush into a haphazard choice because a pathway is long lasting, a bit costly and you don’t want to get stuck with something that you’re not happy with.
Get Creative
Thinking outside the box and outside only the materials available in the market will help in many aspects and it solves a lot of problems.
Imagine being so indecisive between two designs and you are afraid to go with the wrong one, mixing both in an artistic way can erase the anxiety in a second.
Other than having unique paving that reflects your vision and taste, mixing more than one material is a great way to save money and cut down the cost; for example, if you chose an expensive material, you can break it up by adding some of the cheap ones to some areas.
The variety of the options out there can be overwhelming but it’s also super fun to get creative and mix and match between them.
