Extremely BRICK Garden Paving

Brick paving is extremely versatile. If your house is also built of brick, you can use it in the garden to create strong visual links between the two areas. It can he teamed with another surface if used as panels or contrasting courses, or laid alone to make a superb path or patio. Because a brick is a small module it can be laid to a curving or circular pattern without cutting, making it particularly suitable for the sweeping line of a path or for a strongly shaped patio.

Before buying bricks you should always check the density. A rough meaure of this can be made by twisting a coin on the surface as hard as possible. If no damage is apparent then the surface will be pretty resistant. Not all bricks are suitable for paving. Only the harder types will withstand the pressures of feet and frost. Up until a few years ago the choice was between house- facing bricks or very hard and shiny ‘engineering’ bricks. While these can still be used — and engineering bricks look very good in a crisp `architectural’ situation — purpose-made brick `paviots’ that are about half the thickness of a standard house brick are now produced in a variety of styles.

Brick paving should be laid over a sub-base of well-compacted hardcore and either bedded on a semi-dry mortar mix, with dry mortar brushed into the joints, or on a wet mortar mix, with careful pointing of the joints to avoid any staining of the surface. Another method uses bricks butted together, without mortar, over a layer of hardcore. The edges of a path or patio must be firmly set in concrete to prevent movement of the overall surface.

A number of different ‘bonds’ (patterns) can be used, each of which has a different visual emphasis. Stretcher bond along a path tends to accelerate a view, but if laid in the opposite direction, across the path, it slows the eye down. Herringbone is a complicated and relatively `busy’ pattern, while basketweave bond is altogether more static.

Because of their textured surface, bricks soon mellow and can be quickly colonized by mosses and lichens. This makes them ideal in a

traditional design or a cottage garden where the patina of age looks just right

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