www.turning-earth.co.ukfrom
a small Yorkshire garden
Making brick paths
The concrete paths in the garden were serviceable, but cracked in places. I was keen to change the structure of the garden, and decided to try my hand at laying brick paths.
First I had to break up many metres of concrete. This was arduous work, carried out in the first few months of 1998.
I planned the new paths for weeks beforehand, deciding on materials, and design. They had to give us access to the outhouse, where the washing machine lives, otherwise I could be flexible.
I didn't want too much brick, so decided on limestone chippings around the brick paths. The "paths" included two brick circles, one in "Kitchen Corner" and one halfway down the garden.
I knew that using reclaimed house bricks isn't recommended for paths, as they can be damaged by severe frost. But reclaimed house bricks were what we had, and they seemed to blend in well with the house walls and the garden wall.
It's now some years since they were laid, and as expected, a few have been damaged by freezing in severe weather. These have recently been knocked out and replaced. I still think that the old house bricks were the right choice.
Remodelling "Millennium Shed"
In November 1998, as another winter approached, I decided to partly demolish and remodel the second of the two outhouses in the garden. This was a project even more arduous than breaking up concrete paths. It was also more complicated, so is included in separate pages on this site:
