| Filling in the Pathway |
| Filling in the Pathway |
From "Hardscapes"
episode DHSC-102 |
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With the path outline now excavated, the next step is to select and add the filler material -- here, pea gravel chip is the featured choice....
- You'll find lots of choices for pathway material: bark, mulch and lava rock, to name a few. Bark and mulch (figure A) are nice and soft underfoot but decompose over time. Other choices like lava rock or beach stone can get pretty expensive. The important thing is that the material you choose really needs to fit your particular site -- in our case, pea gravel is the best choice (figure B).
Before you can spread the pea gravel into the walkway, you'll need a base for it to sit on. Start with a layer of underlayment fabric. This will help keep the walkway flat and stop settling and sagging. Also, one thing you really don't want is weeds growing up through the gravel -- and using a porous underlayment like this allows water to seep into the ground but blocks anything that tries to grow up from below. It's easy to cut and install.Cut the underlayment to the right width for the walkway, following the curves of the edging. Then just spread the fabric out in the trench (figure C). Next, cover the fabric with a 3" layer of sand (figure D). Wet it with a fine spray of water from the garden hose and rake the sand until it's even across the bed (figure E). Once the sand is level, it needs to be compacted.
Shovel a 3" layer of pea gravel onto the compacted sand. Use a rake to make sure the gravel layer is even and level. Then go over the gravel several times with the drum roller.The stair design is simple and classic: each step is a frame made out of 5"x6' landscape timbers and filled in with concrete.To find the exact dimensions of the steps, drive a stake into the ground at the bottom of the slope (figure F) and make sure it's plumb. Then drive a shorter stake at the top of the slope. Place a 2x4 against the stakes with one end touching the ground at the top stake. Adjust the 2x4 so that it's level (figure G) and attach it to the stakes with screws. Measure from the ground to the bottom of the 2x4 to find the vertical rise of the stair. Divide the total rise by the thickness of the landscape timbers (in this case, 5") to get the number of steps you need.
To determine the tread length, measure the 2x4 between the stakes to find the horizontal span. Divide this by the number of steps in order to find the tread depth, which should always be 11" or more.
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