Chris Hogan 
Tactile paving is the name for the special paving with raised textures. You may have seen them at road crossings where there are paving slabs with raised ‘blisters’ intended to be felt, through the shoes, by people who are unable to see the crossing point. They are also used in …
Edging is important for a long-lived drive. If this isn’t done right it can lead to cracking, distortion and broken blocks at the extremities of the driveway. A course or two of edge blocks doesn’t just give the drive a professional finish, it also has to contain the sideways pressure …
You may find from time to time that you need to construct a temporary driveway. This could be because you are starting a building project and you want to protect what you can of your lawn while diggers, dumper trucks and the like make their way over it. Or it …
If you want to pave a drive but still allow grass to be grown, to help to reduce flooding problems and the loss of microclimates for insects and other invertebrates, cellular paving systems such as grasscrete are a great solution. They are also relatively easy to lay and prices are …
With the increasing focus on ecology and green issues, even the humble domestic drive has been singled out for attack. Studies have shown that paving over such a large proportion of urban front gardens is causing problems with flooding, as well as destroying habitats for insects, birds and other small …
Resin bound surfaces for driveways are a relatively new product on the UK market. They aren’t used domestically a great deal because they are fairly expensive and not that well known. But resin bound surfaces are very flexible, particular in terms of colour, and can be laid on top of …
This article covers the loose materials available for constructing driveways that are similar to gravel but not classed as such. Gravel is made from stone that’s been broken down and smoothed, to a greater or lesser extent, either naturally in rivers and on sea beds, or artificially, as a by-product …
Cobbles are large, rounded but irregular stones that have gained their shape from the action of the sea or a river rolling the stones around. Larger than gravel, other names for cobbles are duckstones or river stones. Cobbles straddle the categories of loose and hard surfaces. They are sold loose …
Bark chippings, also known as bark mulch, are a popular surface for play areas in gardens and woodland paths, because they blend in with the colours and textures of a natural landscaping scheme (see our article Surfaces for Children’s Play Areas on this site). But although bark can’t really be …
Gravel driveways are one of the most popular choices for driveways and hard landscaping in the UK, and it’s easy to see why. It’s cheap, easy to lay, low maintenance and looks good, particularly in country settings or in towns where it matches the predominant stone and brick colouring of …