Paving Blocks at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

You DO not have to stick to either square, rectangular or hexagonal paving stones—you can mix them for a more creative finish. You can mix hexagonal blocks with square or rectangular slabs of different color. With hexagonal blocks, leave some empty units from the overall area to be covered, so allowing you to make any shape you want. To create an attractive feature within the patio, omit a number of blocks from an area of paving and fill the gap with decorative aggregates. Many types and colors of small-scale stones are available, often pre-bagged.

Paving can be used for both paths and patios; the method used is much the same. FIRST MAKE the foundations as described earlier. Paving blocks can be laid on a sand bed without mortar where there is likely to be minimal pedestrian use. The bed should be about 2in thick: you will need to buy 1.7 cu ft of sand for every 215 sq ft of path. Where patios and paths will receive a lot of heavy traffic, lay the blocks on mortar dabs.

PAVING BLOCKS, block pavers and other paving materials must be laid on a surface that is firm, flat and stable. A base of well-compacted subsoil covered with a layer of sand is sufficient for laying paving, but for large, well-used areas, or where the soil is soft, it will be necessary to add a layer of compacted rubble to prevent the paving from sinking. Compacted rubble contains many depressions, even after consolidation by garden roller. These have to be filled by spreading a layer of sand over the surface and leveling it with the back of a garden rake. Paving blocks or other small-scale pavers can be laid directly on the sand layer using mortar, although some block pavers can be laid loose on a prepared sand bed without the use of any mortar. Before doing any excavation work, check where all your service pipes and cables are so as not to damage them.