Cultured Brick for Landscaping

Applications

• Cultured bricks can be used to pave any exterior surface, whether you want to install a garden path, patio or driveway. Lay them around rose gardens or as a border for a front walkway to add contrast to soft petals and vibrant foliage. Like natural stone, cultured bricks form a sturdy and relatively flat surface, but individual bricks can have grooves and slightly uneven surfaces. Plan to use furniture with flat, wide feet for extra stability on a patio.

Foundation

• Paving with cultured bricks is a project you can do yourself over a weekend. To prevent frost heave or water damage, lay a 6-inch gravel foundation for foot traffic or a 12-inch foundation for vehicles. Once compacted, the gravel base reinforces the bricks while providing crevices for underground moisture to seep through. Consider fitting fieldstones or another edging material against the inner borders to add definition to the shape.

Patterns

• While molded to resemble the look of cut stones, cultured bricks have a basic rectangular shape. Dry-lay the bricks on the gravel base to see how the pattern will look. Stagger the joints if you lay them in rows, and try classic patterns such as herringbone and basket-weave. If the bricks vary in size, consider altering the angles and piecing them together like a jigsaw puzzle for a more organic design.

Installation

• Once you're comfortable with the planned pattern, remove the dry-laid bricks. Spread a ½-inch layer of mortar over a section of the gravel. The section should be large enough to lay four bricks at a time to ensure the mortar won't harden before you use it. Begin at a corner and press the bricks in so that some mortar squeezes up around the edges. Once the bricks have set in the mortar for two days, grout the joints to finish the surface.