Skip navigation.

Active members

Garden path gradient

Last post 19-02-2010 7:44 AM by Phot's-Moll. 3 replies.

Page 1 of 1 (4 items)

  • 18/02/2010 06:06 PM
    • Herb
    • Bromley, South London
    • 24 Apr 2009
    • 7
    Not Ranked
    Reply | Contact

    To make my garden more accesible I plan to have a path laid to replace steps. 

    The width of my garden is 30 foot and I have a drop of just under 2 metres over 5 metres.  The only way I can think of building the path is to zig zag it from side to side but I want to make sure the gradient is not too steep, can anyone advise me on a suitable gradient for walking?
  • 18/02/2010 07:28 PM
    In reply to
    • roon
    • Wales
    • 12 Jan 2009
    • 29
    Top 500 Contributor
    Reply | Contact

     A 'Steep Road' is worse than 1:5 gradient, and would be an effort to walk up (let alone push a wheel barrow up!)  Building Regulations state that for mobility access paths (to primary front doors, for example) the gradient should be better than 1:12 (depending on the distance involved).  This would be a good place to start, but bear in mind that if you zig-zag your path approx 10m one way whilst dropping 1m, and 10m the other way to drop the second metre, the gradient could be considerably steeper on the inside of the turn, so you may need to provide gentle curves if you want to have a low gradient for the entire path.

    Bamboo canes and string can help you to visualise the effect before you start digging!  Good luck.  Roon

  • 18/02/2010 10:23 PM
    In reply to
    • Herb
    • Bromley, South London
    • 24 Apr 2009
    • 7
    Not Ranked
    Reply | Contact

    Thank you - I appreciate your comments and will get the canes and string ready!
  • 19/02/2010 07:44 AM
    In reply to
    • Phot's-Moll
    • The sunny South coast.
    • 06 Jan 2007
    • 4,551
    Top 10 Contributor
    Reply | Contact

    I think it might depend a bit on what/who the access is for. If it's for walking around or wheelchair access then the longer less steep path with gentle curves sounds ideal. If it's for wheelbarrows the person pushing might appreciate a shorter straighter path even if there are some quite steep bits. A longer path will also take up more garden space - worth the sacrifice if it makes the garden more enjoyable for those who use it, of course.

    http://patsysplot.blogspot.co.uk/