Walks, Paths, and Driveways
Read about Walks, Paths, and Driveways in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture
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Walks, Paths, and Driveways. That gardens and grounds may be reached at all times in any weather, walks are introduced to afford dry comfortable routes. They should be laid out to conform to and emphasize the garden design. However, too much gravel or a too complicated system will mar the purpose and scale of the garden and detract from its charm. It is necessary, therefore, that the paths be kept in proportion by adopting various widths according to the amount of travel expected and the importance of certain lines in the design. Principal lines or "axes" of the design may be emphasized by widths of 6 to 14 feet; secondary by 4 to 8 feet; minor, 2 1/2 to 4 feet. It may be added that straight paths should be wider proportionately than curving ones. Paths may also be maintained in scale by use of different materials, using stone or brick for the principal ones; gravel, tanbark, or stepping-stones for secondary; grass for the least important. The color of path material also influences the garden appearance, and the simpler the garden character the less pronounced should be its path-colors. Turf is the least and cement the most conspicuous of materials. Grass paths should be designed for unusual wear, and a depth of at least a foot of well under-drained soil provided. Many simple gardens have turf paths only, but these are at a disadvantage in wet weather or dew. If the wear is more than grass will stand, or the garden lines need more emphasis, stepping-stones may be introduced in the grass. (Fig. 3973.) Stepping-stone paths are simplest made of native rock of irregular shapes (Fig. 3974); more refined if of native rock, hammer-dressed; and still more refined if of regular blocks, slate, flag, or cement, (12 by 12 inches) square, or (12 by 24 inches) rectangular (Fig. 3974). The stones should be set 20 inches apart, center to center, well bedded in earth, and level with the sod. Tanbark paths, grass-bordered, are a degree more pronounced. The tanbark should be spread 2 inches thick over a bottom of 6 to 12 inches of broken stone or cinders. If the path is of such importance to the design as to demand greater width, the character should change, and gravel or crushed stone be used. For macadam paths (Fig. 3975) excavate 8 inches at the sides, 6 inches in center, and lay 5 inches of stone or "spawls" on edge across the path. Over this spread 2 inches of crushed stone the size of a hen's egg (1 1/2- 2 inch stone) and a sprinkling of clayish soil, and roll firm, a hand roller being used. An inch of crushed limestone or hard shale should then be spread and rolled until a firm hard surface results. The walk should be raised 1 inch at the center for each 2 feet of width. These hard walks must be contained by borders of grass sod, boxwood, stone, brick, or cement curb. The curb should stand only 1 inch above the walk-surface; it should be 2 1/2 inches wide for a 4-foot path and 1/2 inch wider for each added foot width of the walk up to 4 inches, which is sufficient for a highway. Gravel paths appear well up to any width, but as they are widened their color increases in design importance. Many garden designers use red gravel only; others prefer blue trappe rock; few use washed beach gravel or other white surface material because of its glare. This fault is a grievous one with respect to cement as a walk material; it also seems too artificial and not gardenesque. Brick in various colors and textures is an old and valuable path material which meets the requirements of color, texture, interest, drainage, and neatness, as well as anything yet devised. The pattern of laying should not be complicated to the degree of attracting attention which should be bestowed on the garden itself. In front of seats or steps, about a pool or a garden dial, it may be embellished by special design or by tile introduced into the pattern. Usually the patterns are three, or adaptation of those shown in Fig. 3976. A tile effect can be secured by using extra-wide joints, but glazed tile will be found too slippery for out-of-door use. Brick walks should be laid over a foundation of 16 inches of cinders or broken stone, for drainage and to prevent heaving by frost. To lay "dry," an inch of sand is spread upon this foundation, the bricks laid and afterward swept over with sand until joints are filled. If a cemented job is desired, spread 3 inches of concrete upon the "frostproof" foundation; lay the brick upon a layer of cement mortar spread above the concrete, and pour the brick joints afterward with cement (one part), sand (one part); scour the bricks with muriatic acid, one part to ten of water. Much may be said in favor of stone paths. It is a material full of interest and generally harmonizes well in garden or lawn. The stones, as a rule, should be larger if the walk or terrace is wide or long. They may be laid regularly or irregularly (Fig. 3977); smooth or rough of surface; cemented joints over foundations as for bricks; or laid with grass joints. These last are very gardenesque, particularly if the joints are planted with low-lying perennials like Sedum acre, Armeria vulgaris, certain saxifragas, and Veronica rupestris. Such a walk is not easy to keep free of either snow or heavy dew, so that it must not be laid where service demands dryness. In the English or natural landscape style, lawns and informal gardens are made up of grass, shrubs, trees, and vistas. Paths are introduced for the sole purpose of giving easy access to various points or objects of interest and are not relevant, as in formal gardens, to the design. On the other hand, it is easy to intercept and spoil a vista, subdivide charming greensward, or mar a graceful slope by introducing a walk. Considerable study is required to lay out paths which will be direct, serving the practical needs of the place without interfering with esthetic considerations. Usually it is best accomplished by keeping paths somewhat toward boundaries, and consisting of graceful long curves in harmony with the general rounded outlines of foliage, foregrounds, and slopes in hillsides, rather than by more conventional straight lines, directed through centers. These paths must not seem circuitous or precipitous, however, and the interest must be satisfying to the traveler by presenting special vistas, close examination of interesting plantings, providing good restful benches, passing through arches or otherwise made interesting and seemingly short. Paths of this character must not be laid out in an unrelated system nor built simply to break up lawns and afford aimless strolls. It should not often be necessary for the traveler to return the way he came along a path, at least any distance, and even in small grounds a full circuit should be devised, or else no path-scheme laid out at all. When crossing a vista, as is often necessary to secure directness or continuity, the path may be graded lower to obscure its course (Fig. 3978), or it may be of an inconspicuous material such as a blue slate, brown stones, or dark stepping-stones with grass joints (Fig. 3973). The materials of such lawn-paths may be simply of turf when passage is through woods or meadows. This latter charming device is secured by mowing a strip through the longer meadow grass and daisies. Macadam or gravel is usually the method of construction. For crowded parks, the width should be 8 to 12 feet or more. The construction may be heavier by 2 inches, and special care given to drainage. Oiled macadam, valuable for roads, is not suitable for paths unless top-surfaced with fine screenings to prevent tracking the oil. Asphalt paths are sometimes used and are best if the residuum used in the flux of the surface coat be reduced to the minimum in order to leave as hard a pavement as possible. Concrete is being more generally used because of its wearing properties. It should be colored with red ochre, and lamp-black to destroy the usual whiteness of cement surface. These walks may be constructed in the usual way (8 inches cinders, 3 inches concrete, 1 inch cement float), except that the surface should be rough finished —neither troweled nor rolled. Wing walks at each side of the cement may often be provided to good advantage. They are 2 to 4 feet wide, made of 4 inches of gravel (or crushed stone) laid upon 6 inches of cinders or broken stone. Drainage should be provided for all paths. Brick, asphalt, or cement walks should be crowned in the center or on the high side. Three-fourths of an inch is sufficient for an 8-foot cement walk. At each side, or at the upper side at least, of paths on a slope, drainage should be provided by sod gutters. These will carry the surface water to park inlets which discharge into sewer lines. Driveways. If walks and drives were not necessary to a human use of the informal type of landscape, they would never be put into it. Drives should be regarded as secondary, not primary elements of beauty in this style of gardening and they should remain unobtrusive by direction, width, and material. But as the landscape becomes more formal, drives become increasingly important and prominent in the design. It is simpler to plan a straight avenue in the formal balanced lawn of a house with terrace and gardens in a straight line swung on evident axes than to observe the indefinite lines, the less apparent unity and balance of informal gardening and incorporate therein a wide roadway. A straight formal drive should not be intruded through an informal lawn, or an irregularly curved and planted road through a formal place. As elements of beauty, roads are tolerable only as they serve their purpose thoroughly well. This purpose may be a service-way to the kitchen, when directness is the first consideration; or to the front door, when good views of the house and lawn may warrant more indirectness; or a pleasure-drive, where directness is lost sight of, and good views, interest of scenery, and gradient become all-important. Success in laying out driveways depends on skill in applying the principles of landscape design, with a true regard for grades and excellence of construction. Mere engineering skill will not attain good private or park drives, for part of the function of such roads is to harmonize as far as possible with the other elements of the created or natural landscape. Practical reasons urge a principal entrance toward the most-used corner of the property. As far as possible, the natural inclination for "short cuts" should always be recognized. Neither straight lines nor tiresome turnings are esthetically pleasing; grades must be considered and fine existing natural features, trees, rocks, and the like usually avoided. The driveways should command interesting views ahead and to the side and attract attention to handsome plantings in the curves. The curves should always be directed toward and not away from the objective point, and circuitousness for sake of adding mere length to the approach should be avoided. To be comfortable as well as practicable, the gradient should be as low as about 6 per cent (6 feet of rise in 100 of length), at turns never over 7 per cent, although 10 or 12 may be required elsewhere to accomplish the ascent. Transition from one slope to another must be carefully arranged so as to avoid sharp jolts (Fig. 3979); this is accomplished by filling the hollows or cutting off the crests where the grades reverse. There should always be a flat place in front of doors and at entrances. Road-curves should be long, at least equal to 60 feet radii. It is an advantage to plot the curves at least roughly upon the ground first and transfer them to paper rather than vice versa, as their true artistic and practical effect may be perceived better. Long stakes should be used to aid the sight or a coil of rope laid upon the ground, and moved about until the desired line is attained, then the rope staked. By tying colored twine around the stakes and moving it up and down while sighting, the new grades may also often be visualized. In cleared ground this method is very sure. It is better than the engineer's method of regular curves connected by straight tangents. Precaution should be exercised at curves and intersections to secure safety as well as appearance and convenience. The fast-moving almost noiseless modern vehicles emphasize this precaution; therefore the view ahead at sharp turns should always be unbroken by banks or dense, tall plantings (Fig. 3980). Drives should branch on the outside (A) not inside (B) of curves (Fig. 3981). Danger lurks in narrow branchings and may be avoided by widening the intersecting triangle (Fig. 3982). Small triangles at right-angle intersections are not to be advised. When used at all they should be large and clear of tall planting which obscures the view. Triangles with less than 50-foot sides may better be omitted altogether (Fig. 3983). At the turn-in from the public road especial care must be exercised to avoid danger. The acute angle (A) is bad (Fig. 3984), and the corner entrance (B) is not much better, or is absolutely fool-hardy when arranged as C. The best turn-in is shown at D. When possible, enter from an outward bend of the public road (Fig. 3985) or at the head of the street (Fig. 3986), and always at nearly right angles to the public road (Fig. 3980), making a gradual bend, if desired, to an angle within the property. Avoid if possible the street entrance at the foot of a steep hill as it is the point of greatest speed. Formerly entrances were heavily emphasized by gate-piers, lodges, and tree-plantings; now they are recessed and the planting is less high. The road-surface should be smooth, dry, elastic, clean, and of good color. All this is to be obtained by various constructions. The gravel roadway is always pleasing as to color and wear, but the present-day macadam, although somewhat lacking as to color, better withstands modern traffic. Brick, concrete, and asphalt are too noisy and seem too hot and formal for private roads in the country, although for short distances in the city they may be used properly. The construction of any roadway is begun by grading the level for the bottom of the road. This is called the sub-grade and is made higher in the center than at the sides by 1/2 inch or more to each foot width. The sub-grade should be rolled before the stone is laid. For private drives generally a light Telford consisting of native stone, about 6 inches wide and 1 to 3 inches thick, is laid by hand upon edge crosswise of the road. Over this a sprinkling of clay soil is thrown and covered 2 inches deep with crushed stone of the 1 1/2-inch grade; this in turn is covered by an inch of crushed limestone screenings. Each course as laid is sprinkled and rolled with a six- to ten- ton steam roller. This is a water-bound macadam. (Fig. 3987 A.) Since it does not withstand automobile traffic without dust, various oil-binding treatments of the surface are on the market. Bitulithic macadam is an excellent method of binding the top courses together, with hot pitch applied under pressure. There is no tracking of oil when this method is practised and the color and texture are satisfactory. Local conditions so influence materials and methods that it is necessary to investigate before applying any general specification in detail. A cheaper road (Fig. 3987 B) may be built of spawls, or other broken stone, spread evenly, rolled, and surfaced with the other two courses of crushed stone, each thoroughly rolled wet. Where gravel of a cementitious quality is obtainable, or a hard shale, it may be substituted for crushed limestone surfacing. The earth road has its country uses. Its success depends on dryness, and this is brought about by wide ditching at the side, a rather high crown in the center, and puddling the surface by repeated dragging while in a wet condition. The turf road (Fig. 3987 C) in country estates, for occasional travel, is made by laying roundish stone without "chinking in" the interstices. Cover with soil 1 inch thick over top of stone and seed with grass. Whatever material the road is made of, it should be of convenient although not of unnecessary width, 9 feet for a single suburban lot being sufficient, 13 to 16 feet, including gutters, for more pretentious places, 14 feet for the little-traveled by-roads in parks, and 22 to 30 feet for the principal drives, and 60 to 80 for boulevard widths. The roads should also partake of the decoration suited to the large feeling of the place. Such accessories as gutters and inlets, signs and light-posts, entrance-piers and gates, should be rustic or more refined, carved or conspicuous in proportion as the surroundings have been conventionalized. Roads must harmonize and obey the demands of unity in design. The use of roadside shrubbery and arrangement of taller-growing trees is the means whereby the designer may tie together an artificial road to the landscape.
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References
- Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963
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