Leveling and Creating Drainage for a Garden Path

You don't always have to dig out a pathway for your garden; you can let a meandering patch of grass or mossy ground guide you through your flowers and vegetables. When you want to install pavers, bricks or gravel, though, you need to prepare a level, well-drained bed, or your path may be washed away by the first rain. Drainage can be a messy problem in an area with clay-laden soil, especially if the ground slopes inconveniently.

Most pathway materials require a stable bed of compacted soil sunk below the level of the surrounding ground. To create the rough beginnings, lay out the pathway borders and mark them with chalk, loosen the topsoil with a hoe or step edger, and then dig out the soil with a pick and shovel.

Whether or not your pathway requires extra drainage, you need to level it before installing the pathway covering.

Hoe

Pick

Pruning or reciprocating saw

Soil rake

Plate compactor

Loosen the soil that will form the base of the pathway with a hoe or pick, depending on the composition of the soil, and remove rocks and other debris. Dig around roots that are in the way and cut them with a pruning saw or reciprocating saw.

Rake the ground with a soil rake, redistributing soil as necessary to make the walkway as level as possible. You can use extra soil to your advantage by building berms to direct water flow, but you may have to haul some soil away.

Tamp the ground with a plate compactor. Move more soil around, if needed, to fill in depressions. The compacted ground should be a uniform 4 to 6 inches below ground level when you're done.

Water always seeks the lowest level, so pools are likely in any part of your pathway that's in a valley -- even a slight one -- if the soil is rocky or has a high clay content. One way to deal with this problem is to dig sinkholes at the low points and fill them with gravel to give the water a place to go.

Auger or post-hole digger

Drainage rock

Topsoil

Perforated drainage pipe

Dig a hole in the ground on the downward slope side of the pathway at its lowest point. Use a hand-held or power auger, or you can do the job with a post-hole digger. The hole should be 3 to 4 feet deep and at least 6 inches wide.

Backfill the hole with drainage rock to a depth of about 6 inches below the surface, and then fill it the rest of the way with topsoil.

Dig a trench across the pathway at its lowest point and drop in a length of 3- or 4-inch perforated drainage pipe to direct water from the path to the sinkhole. Backfill the trench with gravel, and then cover it with 1 inch of loamy, well-draining soil.

If you install landscape fabric over the pathway bed, leave the drainage trench uncovered so water can flow into it.

Drainage can be a problem even on level ground if the soil is compacted and non-porous. If you install the walkway so that the finished surface is higher than the surrounding ground, water will run off the sides, but that won't happen easily if you cover the pathway with mulch or gravel. Prevent soggy mulch or floating stepping stones by installing one or more French drains.

3- or 4-inch perforated pipe

1/2-inch drainage rock

Soil rake

Loamy soil

Plate compactor

Landscape fabric

Dig a trench for a 3- or 4-inch perforated drainage pipe in the middle of the pathway or on one side of it. Direct the trench off the pathway and into the garden or onto the lawn at a convenient point.

Drop the pipe into trench, backfill with 1/2-inch drainage rock, and then cover the trench with 1 inch of loamy soil.

Build a slope into the bed of the pathway to direct water to the trench. Redistribute the soil as needed, using a soil rake, and tamp it with a plate compactor.

Cover the tamped soil with landscape fabric, but leave the soil over the drain uncovered to facilitate drainage.

For general information on maintaining your garden path, see Garden Pathway Maintenance.