Driveways
You may not have been expecting to see a page dealing with driveways on a
landscape architecture site. However, a driveway can be more than just a
way to get in and out of the garage. A driveway can be a welcome mat for
the home, adding character, value, and a little fun to the house, as well as
looking good to passing motorists. Most driveways that you see as you
drive along are one of two things: concrete or blacktop. Concrete is a the
most popular choice for driveways because it is relatively easy to put down,
dries in a short amount of time, and is very durable when done correctly.
Blacktop is also a very popular choice of driveways because of it's durability
and clean look.
A poorly planned driveway can result in constantly having to
shift cars around, making it a hassle just to go out. This is why some
preliminary thought must go into the creation of a driveway for the home.
For instance, if the home has a one car garage, the driveway should be 10-12
feet wide with a possible additional slab poured to the side for additional
cars. A two car garage should have a driveway that is about 24 feet
wide. If the driveway will need to curve, it will have to be widened a
couple feet in order to keep the car's tires on the driveway.
There are many
different ways to make a driveway unique and different from the others around it
or even just to add a little flare to the home. A common one is shown
above. The driveway is paved in bricks. Older streets are sometimes
paved in bricks, but are very rough and tend to wear out with constant
use. However, a driveway is more likely to hold up because use is limited
to pulling in and out once in a while. The bricks above are a very tight
fit, which does not allow any kind of soil mixture to get in between the
bricks.
However, some newer driveways now feature a very porous
cement mixture which does allow soil and grass seed to fall into the
holes. The grass then grows up through the driveway, and since grass is a
very durable paving material, the driveway can hold up under the weight of
several loaded trucks.
If you refer to the patios page on this site, you will find
instructions for creating a patio made of bricks on a sand base. While
some think that this type of base is too loose for a driveway, the same
procedure can be done with driveways, just as you would do for a patio. In
addition, if the sand does settle slightly here and there, your driveway will
have a kind of rough, cobblestone surface that adds lots of character to a
house.
As you can see, there are a number of different ways to spice
up a driveway and make it more appealing. It is just a matter of what
suits your tastes.