-
I’m looking into paths and patio ideas
Hello all. Not house repair as such but hopefully it’s allowed …I’m looking into paths and patio ideas (eventually driveway too as that will need doing at some point in near future). I have a National Trust look of the paths (same for the patio area) in my mind and reading about it, it’s called hoggin . Is that correct? Is that self binding gravel mix like cemex that NT places use? Is it ‘permeable’? Is it expensive? Thank you for any info and maybe pictures of your paths in your gardens .
https://www.cemex.co.uk/…/land…/self-binding-path-gravel
cemex.co.uk
Self Binding Path Gravel by Cemex – ensuring consistent quality, strength, and dependability for every project.
-
13 Replies
-
It’s a good question really as gardens affect so much of the drainage environment around our homes. I need pp if I want to have anything other than gravel on the drive so I am curious
-
I think we had this in a historic garden open to the public. I can’t say I’m a fan, as the edges would start to deteriorate and break up leaving a gravelly mess which ended up like streams in bad weather and the centre parts that were trodden solid attracted algae and started to turn green.
It was pretty high maintenance and the loose pea shingle paths we also had were a lot less of a problem.
-
A traditional hoggin would be gravel and sand from whatever local sources compacted by tramping, or with a tamper. Basically you can make it up yourself from standard stuff from the builder’s merchant. There is a huge market in fancy coloured stone and gravel and some premixed with binders (aka cement). Whatever it will grow weeds and lichens unless you are into serious raking, weeding wont look anything like the Cotswold golden path in the photo, so personally I think anything fancy is a waste of money. Have you thought of cobbling? Again cobbles are easily sourced and if you bed them in whin or sand and then brush over more sand as necessary and let things like stone crop and sedums grow along the edges they will quickly look like they have been there forever. Recycled and new stone setts are also a possibility but will quickly become expensive for large areas, but they do look fabulous
-
We just have gravel. It works fine. If you are going to drive on it then it needs building properly with type 1 hoggin but for paths i think you could do less. Dont stick membrane under it though, make it dreadful to weed.
-
It looks like an aggregate that has been compacted – is that right? I have done lots of similar paths as many waterway groups like them as fairly simple to lay. Best with wooden edging so doesn’t break down at the edge but really easy to do. Water disappears eventually so more permeable than tarmac. But they often fail as puddles often form so not useful. They are often built flat and you need to make them with a camber as people will walk in the middle and it’s also easier to compact the middle more than the sides. So have seen some fail almost immediately on a towpath as ended up being a linear puddle.
There is less weeding than loose shingle or gravel but I think gravel and shingle don’t fail in the same way. When people walk a trench through the middle of gravel you just need to spread it about again but with these type of paths you need to add more material and compact or rebuild. I also hate these kinds of paths anywhere anyone might cycle and they can also make a lot of dust.
-
Gravel merchants usually sell an aggregate called ‘self binding’. It’s best tamped together with a whacker plate that’s cheap to hire. Traditionally a hoggin path was a clay or chalky subsoil dug up from the neighbouring ground so dependant on the local strata.
-
Different NT sites use different types of self binding gravels, ideally as local as possible, but that’s not always easy. Brendon is A common supplier. It’s not permeable and needs a slight fall on the surface, 1:40 off the top of my head. It’s quite an art to get a long lasting finish, if it’s too dry or too wet the surface will become loose. I believe the idea is to ’float’ the finer particles to the surface by wetting the gravel as you go and then compacted with a roller/whacker plate. You can have an edge to it for a formal look, which will keep it in place, or edgeless for a softer look. It will also need topping up every now and again.
-
Depends where you live and hence source quarry. We have a hoggin mid south which binds and looks ok. If it goes mucky with time can be top dressed with fine pea shingle. West country has affordable mendip stone that binds very well but the colour is all wrong and can be sticky so needs a 25 mm layer of pea shingle over which will bind eventually. Breedon Gravel used to be the best for paths with cost to suit.
-
I have gravel (drive, paths) which was sourced from a local quarry and to be fair I really don’t like it. It’s uncomfortable to walk on. My kids have grown up with it and can walk barefoot on it without wincing. I’ve placed some sandstone paving stones into it over the last five years or so to give me a route to the lawn area from the house as I like to walk without shoes on outside. I would always suggest local as possible so it looks right with your house. Eg Cotswold gravel looks great in the Cotswolds with houses of the same colour. If you’ve got a local NT property with a gravel drive have a look to see what they use, as colours vary.
-
Hoggin(g) is indeed a thing and there specific methods for laying it. A friend of mine whose wife uses a wheelchair laid a winding pathway so she could appreciate their nicely landscaped garden; he found it easy to do. I’d try and source local materials which should be much cheaper than Breedon or other big outfits. It does need maintenance, but so does every permeable surface.
-
You need to see it in situ before making a decision. We were once recommended it for a driveway by an architect. He said it was permeable and wouldn’t move around as gravel does. I thought it looked too…artificial colour? perfect? so didn’t go with it in the end. Our actual driveway and path to the house has always been hoggin (very compacted small stuff, probably a foot deep) topped with a thick layer of gravel. When an overenthusiastic digger driver dug straight across the whole driveway (despite several of us shouting STOP!) with a wide and deep bucket, just to put in an armoured electricity cable, it caused very annoying problems and was never reinstated properly so has become weedy. Gravel is difficult to walk on (especially in nice shoes) and the cats very pointedly walk around on the brick edging. However, in a place like ours, it does give you a security blanket of hearing approaching footsteps from some distance away. I don’t think the self-binding gravel would do that and is it sharp? My daughter was scarred for life when she stumbled as a toddler on the newly laid, very sharp decorative, but hardwearing, stuff put down on Leicester’s historic New Walk pedestrian way. If we ever get so far as making the drive/path, beautiful, and have enough money left, I will go for setts, either reclaimed or new. There are also some very nice baked products about (forget the name) that look like pamments that can be laid tight together in patterns to minimise weeds in joints.
-
I’ve used it a few times on projects.
The following video may cover some of your questions.
I’m happy to guide you with other things if you DM me.
-
We got windows from Timber Windows Direct, built in Poland and painted to order, really lovely product and great price
Log in to reply.