Garden Studios

When the elements is bad and the bottom beneath your feet is as soggy as your morning Weetabix, you’ll quickly discover the foremost well-traversed routes for your garden.

In summer they’re less noticeable, for the grass grows rapidly even if you walk over it with increasing regularity (non-league football matches apart), but in winter with grass growth at a standstill it isn’t long before the greensward turns to mud on regularly traversed routes.

Now it’s no earthly good telling yourself that you’re going to not walk that way for ages, because it is human nature to take the shortest route from A to B. No; what that you must do over the following couple of weeks is to ensure that the foremost frequently used pathways through your garden are as all-weather friendly as they are often.

If you usually walk around the lawn within the same place, sink stepping-stones into the grass.  It’s a simple thing to do. On an afternoon when the lawn isn’t squelchy, lay your slabs out in a pleasant but practical pattern from where where you’ll result in to where where you may arrive.

Arrange them in order that they suit the length of your natural stride – you don’t want to be doing an impersonation of a regimental sergeant-major legging it around the parade ground day by day, so position them where they hit your footfall in a peaceful and straightforward walk.

Square or rectangular slabs could be laid in a symmetrical arc if the trail is to be curved, otherwise staggered and evenly spaced in order that their edges are parallel to one another, instead of simply being dumped with their edges lying higgledy-piggledy. Crazy paving need to be laid in order that your foot lands at the centre of every slab where your weight would be evenly distributed.

When you’re pleased with the site of the slabs you’ll set about cutting them into the turf. Go around each with a half-moon iron or a spade, otherwise use an old kitchen knife to chop down into the turf to the depth of the slab. Dig out each patch of turf and slot each slab into position in order that it sits fractionally below the extent of the lawn. This would allow the mower to omit the pinnacle without the blades hitting the stone. Have a bucket of sharp sand handy to bed the slabs into position and forestall them wobbling.

Once the job is completed you’ll have an instant all-weather pathway a good way to replace that nasty muddy trench which you thought was going to be there forever, and your temper might be much more at the same time as a result.

Don’t miss Alan’s gardening column today and each day within the Daily Express. For additional information on his range of gardening products, visit alantitchmarsh.com.