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Gardening

tired old crazy paved patio

(12 Posts)
pollybee Mon 05-Jun-23 11:36:30

Hello!
I am considering replacing my patio with cement slabs and sealing them. Has anyone tried this? Are cement slabs hideous? Is there an aesthetically pleasing way of doing it? Help! Thanks

rosie1959 Mon 05-Jun-23 11:58:46

We are about to replace our patio and found it best to visit local suppliers who usually have a display of various types of paving.
There are so many colours and designs you will be able to see what may be best for you. We have decided on porcelain for its hard wearing qualities no sealing needed

Esmay Mon 05-Jun-23 12:16:03

I debated on this , but I really don't like concrete slabs .

I'm planning the following
after supercleaning the tired old crazy paving I'm going to seed the gaps with campanula and thyme and experiment with other other plants .

Beechnut Mon 05-Jun-23 13:13:12

Esmay I like the sound of what you intend to do. It will be a softer and welcoming look in my opinion 😃

pollybee Wed 07-Jun-23 20:53:49

Thank you all for your very good advice. Campanula and thyme! I would love to see it. Maybe I will plant some so I can. Thanks again.

Patsy70 Wed 07-Jun-23 21:19:05

We have crazy paving on part of our drive. My lovely neighbour has a carpet/interior & jet washing business and does a first class job on our front drive. I’d stick with that and plant fragrant herbs in the gaps, pollybee.

MerylStreep Wed 07-Jun-23 21:32:29

This site has some good ideas for planting in cracks.

www.daviddomoney.com/plants-for-purpose-plants-for-wall-cracks-crevices/

crazyH Wed 07-Jun-23 21:33:32

Grey brick paved drive - needs a good power wash every year - weeds grow in between - needs weed killer regularly - pollybee what do you mean by ‘sealing’ ?

Allsorts Mon 12-Jun-23 06:27:12

I have a paved patio and have no intention of having it taken up, however much prefer the look of crazy paving, especially
If you can get camomile and thyme to grow it will look amazing. I have a very old crazy paving path and bought some mortar mix ready made, it was so easy to fill the gaps, just choose a dull day, not a heatwave as I did, to do it,

karmalady Mon 12-Jun-23 06:51:38

smooth concrete slabs can be very dangerous when icy in winter. I loose laid a few under my hotbins and almost went flying. You cannot always see the ice but have no chance of standing up.

My builder had put down non-slip concrete slabs which are not the prettiest but I later doubled the patio size with the same slabs, which are not at all slippy or dangerous in winter. The non-slip aspect does work, it worked all through the 3 winters I have been here.

I don`t notice the slabs now, pots benches, tables, chairs and vegtrugs etc do a good job. The slabs are not sealed and got green last winter but were very satisfying and easy to clean up with my karcher

Daisymae Mon 12-Jun-23 10:58:58

I have managed to get erigion established in mine and it self seeds like mad. I like it very much and my patios only a few years old.

Auntieflo Mon 12-Jun-23 11:45:10

Daisymae, that looks so pretty. I sent for some Erigeron by post, after having no luck in the local garden centres, and was disappointed by the plants that arrived. However, I have planted them in a pot hoping they will thrive and seed around.
Esmay. Campanula and Thyme also sound great. I will have to try them