THE HANDY MAN’S CORNER.

Otago Witness, Issue 3765, 11 May 1926, Page 10

THE HANDY MAN’S CORNER.

LAYING CRAZY PAVING

Crazy paving is one of the most delight, ful materials for making garden paths and courtyards; pleasing ill colour, easily laid, and very durable, the work involved is well within the ability of the handy man. Practically speaking, there is only one etticient way to lay the paving, although the details vary considerably according to the nature of the soil, the area to cover, and so on. The great thing is to provide a pliable bed whereon to set the pieces ot stone. What l recommend is a bed of a good layer of sand, mortar, or the like, which can adjust itself to the inequalities of the stone, which necessarily varies in thickness and form. It would be useless merely to spread the sand over the surface soil, and then to bed the stones thereon; the sand bed must be set upon a substratum that is sufficiently strong to resist the weight of pedestrians and vehicles using the path or yard. There are, of course, some places where crazy paving can be set into the soil direct, as, for instance, when making a path on the Japanese Drinciple with pieces set steppingstone fashion in the grass. This is perhaps the easiest way of all in which to utilise the stones; all that has to be done is to select pieces that are reasonably uniform in size, and then lay them in their places on the grass. Next, with a turf cutter cut around the stone as it lays on the ground, shift the stone, and cut away the turf, thus forming a pocket wherein to lay the stone The bottom of this hole should be loosened with a fork ant! a layer of sand about an inch in thickness spread over the surface. The stone is then set in place, and driven down slightlv below the level of the turf, with the aid of a heavy wooden mallet, beetle, or rammer. When it is desired to make a more imposing path, like that shown in Figure I, lading from an entrance gate, it is necessary to make adequate provision for drainage, and to provide an efficient foundation.

(Special.— Fop. the Witness.) Drainage will have to be settled by the nature of the site and the natural contours of the ground: but in general it is desirable to drain a path that has any hollow places. Unless this is done the surface water will accumulate and form puddks at the lowest parts. There are two ways of draining the path ; either it can be done by leaving a grip, or shallow trench, at the side of the path, or it can be arained from be-

neath. The tormer plan is really unsuited to the nature of a crazy path, which ought to blend with the general garden plan. Trenches at the side, therefore, always look out of place. The best plan is to dig out the site of the path to a depth of, say, nine inches—or more in the case of very light loamy soils. Then set ordinary small agricultural drain pipes therein, as shown in Figure 11. These pipes are laid in place

in the centre, or at the lower side of the path, their ends being about halfinch apart. They must have a fall towards the lower level, where the water should be discharged by means of a soakaway or drain. Any particularly wet spots can be drained by setting several pipes diagonally, the water being discharged to the side of the path into a soakaway or a bush drain. The next proceeding in the making of the path is to fill in the bottom of the trench with any good hard core. Broken bricks, burnt ballast, clean ashes, broken bottles, and the like will do. Solidify it by ramming with a moderately heavy rammer, but be careful not to smash the pipes during the operation. Cover the hard core with finer material, such as gravel or any bard material. Then spread a bed of sand on the top, rake it over to a level surface, as shown in Figure 111, and bed your pieces of stone upon the sand. York stone is generally used, but any durable and hard local stone will answer. The pieces are of random shape, and no two should be alike though it is well to sort them into heaps of approximately the same size, putting the larger pieces and those with a straight edge in a separate place. The better stones should be placed at the sides and in the centre of the path, where the chief wear will be experienced. The stones are placed in position as artistically as possible on your bed of sand, their top surfaces being brought into line with the aid of a long batten of wood, resting on pegs driven into the ground at the sides of the path. Make the centre of the path a little higher than the sides to allow of surface drainage, and to compensate for settlement. If stones with straight edges are set at the sides of the path a neat finish will oe imparted. It is essential to bed all the stones, thoroughly filling in all gaps, so that no pieces can rock or move. Tf this is not done at the start the path will never settle properly.

(CUT THIS OUT. Subject of next week’s article: “A WORK BENCH FOR THE HOME.”)