In April last year, we had a natural plant filtration system for our grey water from the house installed (read more about what that means here: Aquatiris) and as the spring is now upon us, the weeds were getting slightly out of control around it. To make sure we minimised the chance of unwanted plants within the filtration system (as this would ruin how it works), we wanted to make a path around the outside of the assainissement.
We decided to utilise the material that was removed from the house during the renovation, so we took the slates that were broken from the roof (plus others that the roofers kindly gave to us from other projects as well as old ones that couldn't be used that we had in the hangar) and the bricks from the walls as ground cover.
Against all advice, we decided to not use a geotextile as a ground cover and to use the bricks instead as we didn't want to buy anything new and reuse something that otherwise would be going to landfill. We know it's not going to totally get rid of weeds but we don't mind a bit of weeds around, it's mother nature after all!
It's not quite finished, we're trying to get a few more slates to finish but it's looking pretty good!
Step 1. Weed where you want to make your path
Step 2. Make the soil level
Step 3. Take the bricks from the walls that have been removed from your home and start placing on the flat soil, trying to cover as many gaps as possible (kinda like a jigsaw puzzle)
Step 4. Dig a thin hole along the edge and insert slates vertically to make a border (this should hopefully stop the weeds coming in from under the soil and we may replace this with another material if we need the slates for the path itself)
Step 5. Add large slates to the top of the brick and then add broken slate pieces being sure to cover all the brick
Step 6. Break larger slates into smaller pieces by using a hammer
Step 7. Walk around the path, making sure to keep breaking slates and cover any visible bricks
Et Voila!
