Driveways – hard landscaping

If you want your garage and garage door to look good, you will also want your driveway to be smart and in keeping with the rest of your property and garden.

A good drive helps to add that extra curb appeal to your garage and home, whilst a badly worn or poorly finished driveway can let the whole property down.

When it comes to laying or replacing a drive, there are several materials and finishes that you can select from and, depending upon the country in which you live, different options will have a different level of popularity.

If a material like paving is selected, then the hard landscaping can be continued in the form of pedestrian paths or as an ornamental feature that adds extra interest to the garden.

Driveway and garden landscaping options

There are a number of different driveway and hard landscaping materials and constructions, the most popular of which are -

Concrete, paving slabs, clay (terra cotta) pavers, cement pavers, sets (usually made of fired clay), cobbles, tarmacadam (asphalt in the USA), tiles (mainly USA), and gravel or a mix of loose stones.

A visual, although not necessarily a structural driveway finish is to have a specially textured, coloured and waterproof treated layer applied over a concrete base (this could be a pre-existing concrete or cement drive). These proprietary surface finishes are applied by specialist companies and are almost unique to North America. They can simulate a number of finishes, but primarily random shaped and coloured flag stones.

When it comes to practical soft landscaping, grass, bedded with a reinforcing mesh at root level, allows a lawned area to be utilised for short term parking and limited drive-over use. This does however lack the visual definition that hard landscaped driveways provide.

Which driveway is best for you?

In considering which driveway option to choose, you should think about aesthetics and long term durability, and then balance each one off against its respective cost.

Because of the laying pavers, sets, tiles and cobbles is very labour intensive and requires a tradesman, these types of driveway tend to be the most expensive. However they are also the most visually appealing and their hardwearing qualities make them a good choice. Each of these options also requires a properly constructed sub-base to adequately support the weight of your vehicles.

Concrete, tarmacadam and asphalt are much cheaper and less attractive options, however they are functional and, with coloured and patterned concrete and asphalt, they can look good. Some concrete driveways are assembled from large slabs or blocks that have a pattern already embedded in them. These units simulate pavers or paving slabs and the joints are well disguised.

A gravel drive is probably the cheapest of all of the hard landscaping options. However, in order for the gravel to stay in place and provide a level and clean surface it will need a good sub-base, edge restraints, and a plant-proof barrier between the gravel and the base. A good depth of gravel is also required.

For most people their available budget will determine the kind of driveway construction that they select, however even with a limited amount of money to spend it is still possible to get a good driveway.

Please use these links for information about driveway illumination and garage illumination.