[Donald]

Hello,
I'm just trying to figure out what makes a good path. The only path work I've done here was to take out the old one which was a straight shot from out on the road to the front door. Principles might include: materials, measurements, usage, lay.... Are there no established general rules about what makes a good path anyway.

Greetings,

Don Wagstaff

[MikeM]

well, it kinda depends what you mean by path. For example, the trade assoc for landscape gardeners has a series of standards for their members to adhere to. This sets how deep the sub base should be for any given path surface and so on. Does that answer your question?

[Donald]

"A path is a prior interpretation of the best way to traverse a landscape."
- Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking


A good definition of what I am meaning though I would limit it to a domestic non-urban context.


And another thought is that, had that one path been a good one - the one straight into the front door -  probably I wouldn't have taken it up. I question whether the best path is the one we use. It seems there could be a bit more forethought involved is what I'm trying to get at.


Greetings,


Don Wagstaff

[Fleecewife]

Defining the best line for a path to take could be as simple as seeing where you have worn a track where you actually walk, then laying your path there.
 
Materials can be as prosaic as concrete or you could go for gravel if you don't mind spending your life pulling out the weeds.  We have just finished laying paths made of black limestone (from India) - doesn't stay black but is very dark when it rains.   You can, at great expense, get recycled flagstones which are wonderful, but depend upon a magic wallet.   We have also used recycled granite setts for a vehicle driveway.
 
Whatever material you choose, the foundations must be solid enough to take the traffic expected.  Higgledy-piggledy paving slabs look awful

[Donald]

Hello,


It could very well be so that the old path I took out was paved with higgledy-piggledy slabs too.


Is it so that the best path is the one I trod from the backdoor of the barn, along the house, through the orchard, across the top of the vegetable garden, down along the woodshed up onto the mest heap when I clean out the stall, or would it be better to re-situate the dungbilt?


Such theoretical musings stur my brain when I come to planning pathways.

[deepinthewoods]

you should undertake a personal time and motion study!

[bloomer]

we build a lot of paths, some are straight to get from A to B quickly, some meander to guide people through the different areas of a garden etc


the list of possible materials is huge and the techniques used are numerous.


my only advice is once you decide where to put the path, don't scrimp on the sub base as other wise you'll only be having to re build it in a few years...

[Donald]

Hello,


Just putting up some other information I looked up in A Pattern Language, for the sake of the old archive. C. Alexander gives us some principles that I generalize this way. A path can be straight or gently curving from beginning to end but should include intermediate goals, with the shape of the path swelling around the intermediate goals and at the beginning and end. A path is not just a place for moving through but also for staying in. When using paving stones there should be a 1 inch space between the stones for grass and moss to grow. Good paving material of soft baked clay tiles and brick - which can be made at home in a fire pit.


Greetings,


Don Wagstaff

[deepinthewoods]

we shall need photos! where abouts are you donald?

[deepinthewoods]

ah just found you, how lovely. i bet the fishings great...

[Polished Arrow]

Hello Donald,


You might enjoy this little book:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-English-Path-Kim-Taplin/dp/1902481097
Let me know if you get one, or, if you don't live in the UK (as it seems from your profile page) and you find it hard to get hold of a copy, then let me know and I will get one and send it to you, if you are interested.


Deborah

[colliewoman]

Oh my Gods you lot put me to shame


My paths have the one requirement= Can I push a barrow down it without falling over?
My paths are all half pallets with a covering of old carpet so I don't slip
I just laid a 50 yard one this afternoon after moving the sheep
Ok so they aren't as pretty as most, and you wouldn't want it in your posh garden but they are quick and  easy to put down and pull up if needed!

[deepinthewoods]

that is the essence of a good path cw. and removeable, and recyclable. clever you!

[YorkshireLass]

Well, whoever laid my paths goes by a few handfuls of gravel and a shovel of tarmac.
I relaid some bricks to make a track through the veg patch - literally a line wide enough for a foot/wheel.


Is the path for foot traffic, or wheelie things?
Are you going to weed it, do you want things growing in it?