Tools + Area Calculator + Materials = A Great Walkway

Laying your own gravel or wood chip walk in your yard is a feasible project as long as you are willing to spend the time required to do it correctly. Much of the work in creating a beautiful and functional path is in proper preparation. The tools that you will need are few, and the materials can be purchased locally in the correct amounts computed by an online area calculator. With these things, some hard work, and the rental of a drum roller or tamper, you can have that walkway finished in a single day.

The Steps to Creating a Great Gravel Path 

1. When preparing the ground for the creation of the path, you will need string, stakes, and a level.  Mark out the edges of the path with stakes and string, measuring carefully to ensure that the path is the correct dimensions and that the path drops slightly for drainage. The correct slope is a loss of 1/8 to ¼ inches per foot.
2. Once you have the land staked out, you can begin to dig out the dirt, grass, or soil to the correct depth. You are going to add four inches of gravel and two inches of sand, so remove a little more than six inches of material.
3. Once you have the material removed, you will need to decide on an edging. The border edge of your path can be made up of treated timber, bricks, or precast concrete pavers. If you are using bricks, you will need to dig out a trench on either side of the walk to house the bricks—short edges up—to act as a border.
4. Lay the border into place, and (in the case of bricks) add sand and soil to hold them in place. Once the edge is down, place your two inch layer of sand along the entire walkway.
5. Using an appropriate sized piece of wood, screed (level out) the sand. Once this is done, wet the sand so that it settles into a more compact consistency.
6. After the sand is ready, cover it with landscape fabric to prevent weeds from growing through.  If you need to abut pieces of fabric together, make sure there is at least one foot overlap.
7. Now you are ready to pour the gravel or wood chips over the fabric. Once the covering is down, level it out with a rake and them tamp or roll it down with whatever tool you have rented.

Using your tools, your area calculator, your materials, and a little work, you can have a great looking path in as little as a single day’s work.