Easy Peasy Pavers

Set your imagination free this weekend and style your own garden pavers. It’s the small details that stamp your personality on your garden, yet at ground level this is often overlooked. Pavers, in whatever shape you fancy, can bring traffic areas to life, while giving you the chance to get creative with your planting in-between them.

What you Need
1 m x 1.2 m x 50 cm sheet of high density polystyrene
PPC cement
Stones
River sand

Tools
Pencil, jigsaw, Stanley knife, wheelbarrow, bucket, nosing trowel, wooden float, small straight edge.

What you Do

1. Place the polystyrene on a work bench and then use the pencil to draw a pattern for your mould (we chose to make two, differently-sized, figure 8 shapes).

2. Use the Stanley knife to make an incision on the pattern you have drawn. Place the blade of the jigsaw in this incision, to give it a firm footing, and begin cutting along the line. Remember, the mould will be formed by the outside section of the polystyrene – once you have cut the shapes out, discard them.

3. Place the mould on a level work surface. Anchor it down with two or three bricks so that it doesn’t move when you pour the concrete into it.

4. Mix your concrete in a wheelbarrow, using one part cement, one part stones and two parts river sand. Slowly add water to the mixture until it attains the consistency of thick yoghurt.

5. Pour the concrete into the mould and agitate it to remove any air bubbles. Use the straight edge to remove any excess concrete and then run the float across the surface until you get a smooth finish.

6. Allow 3-4 days for the concrete to dry, remove the mould and place the pavers in the garden. Plant low-growing ground covers in-between them to make the feature even more attractive.