Laying grass pavers correctly – instructions

Grass pavers are actually really easy to lay. However, there are some points, especially with regard to the subsurface, that must be considered and decided beforehand. Because grass pavers need a slightly different surface depending on the later load on the area. How the substructure will be designed should be clear before you start creating the subfloor. Then you can get started, in most cases with the excavation. This is how the laying of grass pavers works step by step:

1. Concrete lawn pavers need the right subsurface

This is also the really complicated part when you want to lay grass pavers. Depending on the intended use, the preparation of the subsurface takes more or less time. How to proceed:

• You mark out the area on which the lawn paving stones are to be laid later.
• This area is now excavated, depending on the later use at a certain depth.
• A substructure of at least 25 cm is required for a garage entrance, 30 cm for parking spaces, and 50 cm if a truck is to drive onto the site later.
• When the excavation is finished, the remaining soil may need to be fixed by shaking.
• Whether this is necessary depends on the structure of the soil; sandy soil tends to sag, but allows a less strong substructure, as water runs off well.
• This subsurface is intended to ensure that the stones will later sit firmly in the ground, even in the event of weather conditions such as frost.
• Afterwards, lawn edging stones should be laid around the subsurface to form a lawn edging.
• This edge gives the edge of the area covered with grass pavers stability and also forms a perfect visible edge.

2. Concrete lawn pavers that can be driven over need a base course and a bed

This base layer is applied to the prepared substrate as follows:

• The base layer consists of a ballast layer in the lowest area, if the subsoil is to be drivable.
• The ballast should have a grain size of 16/32, it is applied to the excavated area at a height of 20 cm.
• This gravel has to be carefully compacted by shaking or rolling so that the layer becomes a solid subsurface.
• Another layer comes over the gravel, which forms the bed for the lawn paving stones.
• It should be five to ten centimeters thick and can consist of grit or a layer of grit and sand.
• Chippings are broken rock of a certain size, here you can use a grain size of 7-30 mm, so-called concrete chippings.
• You can also apply a layer of gravel and sand to the base course so that the grass roots better.
• This layer can be, for. B. from half high-grade chippings (particularly hard chippings) and lava chippings (coarse, water-retaining chippings) and half topsoil.
• Such a coating is very good for the lawn plants, but a little less stable than pure gravel.
• You can increase the stability here if you add a few kg of fine clay mineral per cubic meter to the mixture.
• You can mix in a little organic long-term fertilizer so that the lawn will quickly develop roots later.
• When the coating is finished, the surface is straightened by peeling off with a gauge or a wooden board.
• For some grass pavers, the subsurface should be shaken again, others can be laid directly.

3. Lawn paving stones for pedestrian areas

If you want to lay grass pavers on areas that should only be used by pedestrians, you have to dig much less topsoil. You only excavate the laying surface to the depth that can accommodate the stone. The excavation should be planned in such a way that the lawn paving stone later protrudes slightly above the rest of the ground surface, otherwise puddles would form on the lawns. You can do without the gravel entirely in an area that is only used by pedestrians.

However, the subsurface must be dug so smooth that the grass pavers are flush with the lower edge, if parts of the grass pavers hang in the air later, stones could break at some point. So you either pull off a smooth surface with scrapers or boards or, if the ground is very bumpy and hard, you dig more in order to then introduce a leveling layer as an installation bed.

4. Lay the grass pavers correctly

You can now lay the grass pavers yourself, the manufacturer’s instructions will tell you about any special features, otherwise proceed as follows:

• Concrete lawn pavers are simply laid out next to each other and pounded into place with a rubber mallet.
• Where necessary, they have to be cut; most lawn pavers can be cut with normal carbide circular saw blades.
• Plastic grass pavers often have to be hooked into one another when they are laid, and ground anchors are usually included to anchor the plastic paving slabs in the ground.
• Plastic lawn pavers can be cut with the jigsaw if you need to cut them to size.
• Also with the drivable areas you have to make sure that the grass pavers are completely in contact with the gravel.
• Otherwise bumps would develop later or the stones could break under load.

5. Fill the grass pavers

When the grass pavers have been laid, the topsoil, in which the lawn will later grow, must be applied. The earth is first applied with a shovel and then swept into the cavities of the stones from all sides with a powerful broom. Then take a piece of wood with a small area at the bottom or something similar with which you stamp the topsoil down to about three-quarters. For very large areas it is worth making a special tool: You buy a square piece of wood that fits into the cavities at about waist height at the hardware store, drill it through and pull a rod through horizontally as a handle, and you have a great “tamper” that can be operated while standing “.

Once the area has been tamped, sweep in the next earth until all the cavities look well filled, then the laying area is fastened with the vibrating plate. Now you are done once, now the lawn grating should be able to sit for a month, then you will usually be able to refill some more soil.

Green grass pavers

The finished filling (which should be a few millimeters below the upper edge of most lawn paving stones, follow the instructions) can then be planted with lawn. You can sow lawns, this is how a concrete lawn paving stone is planted.

Make sure to select a good seed mix, especially with the grass pavers. Among the standard seed mixtures compiled by the Research Society for Landscape Development Landscaping eV (FLL, www.fll.de), you will find a seed mixture that is particularly suitable for the greening of grass pavers or similar areas. Every specialist dealer should have the list of these regular seed mixtures available for viewing.

Because the lawn paving stones provide a smooth surface, you can mow the freshly sprouting lawn unusually early without damaging its development if it is mowed a little too early. That is good for the lawn, it promotes the development of a dense sward with strong undergrass. Otherwise, the lawn is sown, watered, fertilized and cut like any other lawn.

Advantages of the grass pavers – including innovations in design

Ecologically very attentive people already know the many advantages of grass pavers very well, here is a brief summary:

• Turf pavers green urban areas, and that is a good trend at a time when more and more natural areas are disappearing due to development.
• By laying grass pavers, you steer against a cityscape that is not really worth striving for: gray surfaces wherever the eye turns.
• An area with grass pavers, just like a small park or garden, helps to improve the quality of life for the increasing number of people living in cities.
• Since 2007, more people in Germany have been living in cities than in rural areas, and this trend will only increase, so more green in the city is an important keyword.
• In addition to garden areas and green roofs, areas with lawn paving stones can also help to ensure that natural habitats are preserved in the conurbations.
• When roadsides and parking lots, driveways and embankments are increasingly paved with grass pavers instead of concrete, the urban climate and urban ecology gain.
• Lawn pavers are good for our water balance because green areas covered with lawn pavers remain part of the natural water cycle.
• Sealed soil covered with concrete and tar, on the other hand, cannot absorb or release water, which is not the ideal case with a view to nature and the climate.
• This is different with grass pavers, they secure and create a drivable surface, on which plants nonetheless thrive, which bring more green into the cityscape.

However, homeowners who quickly recognized the advantages of lawn paving stones often had some difficulties with the “first generation” of lawn paving stones: they often didn’t look really great in terms of design. That is different now, the designers have long since taken the grass pavers under their wing. You can see an example of this on the website of the Swiss architects and designers Aurel Aebi, Armand Louis and Patrick Reymond of Atelier Oï, at www.atelier-oi.ch, go to Works, Design, scroll down the list to “Lunix” pave-stone (cobblestone). Every well-stocked stone dealer will be able to present you with an astonishing selection of grass pavers that meet even the most unusual design requirements.

With these grass pavers you can not only create the usual grid patterns, but they are design elements that can give an area a new effect. There are grass pavers that are spread over the ground like tiny dots, it looks playful and light, a nice addition to any house with a slightly romantic touch. Other designer lawn pavers are emphatically businesslike and reserved and look good in front of any straight house, while others play with curved lines and bring something extravagance to the area.

Which areas can be covered with grass pavers?

Lawn pavers are ideal for all drivable areas that should still look like part of the garden. Every sidewalk in the garden can also be designed well with lawn paving stones, is then easy to walk on, but is still covered with plants and part of the natural environment.

Conclusion