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Clear A Path From Your Backdoor To Your Lake Entrance

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If you have a lake house, then you should make a nice path from your house to the lake entrance. You want a nice, clean path to use to walk down to the water. This way you don't have to wear shoes or sandals if you don't want. A nice, smooth path free of rocks, ditches, or thorns is going to add much enjoyment to your property. Here's how to do it.

Mark The Path and Dig It Out

The first step is to designate the area where the path will lay. Use twine and garden stakes to map it out. Whether you choose to use straight lines or curvy lines is up to you. Once you have set up the stakes and twine, use a straight edge shovel to dig down a few inches and remove the dirt. You don't have to go deep, you just want to dig down enough to layer base of crushed stone (around ½ inch) and then top it with either pea gravel of cedar mulch.

Lay Down Crushed Stone

Get bags of crushed stone and dump them into the path. Use a spade or a stone rake to spread them around the path. Once you have spread them as evenly as possible, you can use a tamping tool to flatten them down. The crushed stone will be the base, you won't be walking on it so don't worry if it looks sharp or ugly.

Place A Weed Barrier Down

Buy a roll of weed barrier and lay it down on top of the crushed stone. This will help to limit the amount of weeds you will have to deal with later.

Install Precast Stone Edging

After the crushed stone is laid and tamped down, and the weed barrier is set, it's time to install edging. Precast stone has the look of natural stone, except it is much easier to work with. It has an even bottom, so your path edging will be level. Working with natural stone is very tricky because you have to try and level each stone. Precast stone is a cinch to lay down in comparison.

Add Pea Gravel or Cedar Mulch

Once the precast stone edging has been installed, it's time to fill in the path with the material you've chosen. You should choose either pea gravel or cedar mulch. These two materials are gentle enough so that you and your guests can walk barefoot to and from the lake. The advantage of pea gravel is that you don't have to replenish it like you will with cedar. With cedar mulch, you will have to top it off every year because it will decompose and blow away.


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