On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 12:31:15 GMT, Tom Redpath wrote:

Good Afternoon, I have not posted here before but as a novice gardener
atemmpting my first big project I would really appreciate some advice.
I have just moved into a property with an old, cracked and slightly
unevenr concrete patio. I want to relay this with flags but am unsure
whether I would need to rip up the old patio, screed it level or simply
put down a good layer of sand to level it off before laying slabs...
Anyone have any hints and tips?

There's another approach: view your existing patio as a planting
opportunity. There are certain plants that grow very well in
patio cracks and not very well in nearly any other position.

Nierembergia rivularis is the primary example I can give you.
It's long dead out in the open garden, but in my patio's cracks,
it thrives and goes from strength to strength, with a very long
flowering period in summer, a low mat of leaves stuff the cracks
adorned with large bright-white flowers.


If all you really want is a level patio, another approach is to
lift the slabs comprising the existing one, and re-lay them with
sand underneath to get them level. This retains the cracks, and
may save a fair bit of money as well, though it's not easy work.

(I'm assuming here that you have a patio of poured concrete.)


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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