Driveway Apron & Driveway Designs

Driveway Apron

This is the area at the beginning of your driveway paving where it meets the street. A driveway entry is an important element of landscape design. It should be attractive and inviting for those approaching the house, creating a welcoming setting.

Depending on the driveway paving that is being used, driveway aprons can be either a similar or completely different material from the rest of the driveway surface.

Therefore it becomes a special entry area. It is a nice design element to add. Since it is a small area, it is usually not too expensive. Paving costs can be adjusted by using either more ore less expensive driveway materials.

If you have a circular driveway, there should be a special area on either end.

A good dimension for a driveway entry area is 15 or 20 feet long from the beginning of the drive at the street. The width is as wide as the rest of your driveway, which is usually anywhere from nine to twelve feet. A driveway, however, normally flairs out at the entry. This creates a comfortable turning radius for cars.

Driveway Materials

There are many driveway materials to choose from for the apron. If your driveway is asphalt or loose stone, you might use pavers, brick or cobblestone pavers, the latter being the most expensive. This creates interest upon entry and breaks up the asphalt or stone.

Perhaps your driveway is all pavers. In that case, you might consider still using pavers at the entry, but differently. You might change the pattern.

Changing the color to a complementary one also creates a nice look. Please visit my page on driveway paving.

Paving Designs

Be creative with paving designs for this area. When using pavers as the driveway apron, add anywhere from one to three rows of a soldier course to frame it. The wider the driveway, the more rows you can use. A soldier course is a border that goes around the field.

Another paving design idea is to add a circle pattern within thi area. Your driveway should be wider rather than narrow in order for this to look right. The circle must be a decent size so that it is in scale. As an example, a driveway entry might be twelve feet and have an eight foot diameter circle. This would leave two feet of concrete pavers on either side. A narrow soldier course would be used so as to leave space around the circle.

Paving bricks can be used in the same way as concrete pavers. Various brick patterns can be used, along with a soldier course. Brick circles also make a nice design element.

Cobblestone Driveway

An authentic cobblestone driveway can be created by using cobblestone pavers, which are made from granite. However, cobblestones can also be used for just the driveway entry. These same cobblestones, or Belgian Block, can also be used as a raised, driveway edgings. They should used on either side of the driveway apron and continue along the entire driveway length. When using Belgian block curbing, the soldier course is optional.

There are other driveway materials that can be used for a driveway apron, but I have found the above to work best.

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