How to camouflage concrete path?

[Papayalady]

Hi all. Looking for inexpensive ideas for making my old, cracked concrete pathway and small patio in my new house less of an eye sore! Deck tiles, stencilling are some of my thoughts. Any more suggestions out there...? 😀 TIA.

I once created a patio by cementing small paving slabs onto concrete and putting pea gravel between the slabs. That could work, especially if you can put some sort of retaining edging in. You could pave without gravel between, but you'd need more paving and it'd cost more.

I would edge it and gravel over the whole lot!

Oooh, thank you for those suggestions. I'll definitely consider both!

We bought a bulk bag of slate to cover our ugly concrete, made a huge difference and didn't spread everywhere like gravel does.

Just make sure you dont breach the damp proof course of your house if the concrete is close to the house.

Have a look on Pinterest OP.
Some folk on there have done very creative stuff with their cracked paths.
Sorry I can't do the linky thing but the ones with the small mosaic tiles or small pebbles neatly set in a concrete patch look particularly good IMHO as do the ones which have made a feature of the cracks by painting them as twigs and adding painting leaves on the flat bits to add to the overall effect.

Just don't paint it. I did this once, it looked great on year one by year three it looked worse than ever!

as others have said pinterest can be a source of inspiration

if you edge and fill try and use something angular and not rounded like pea gravel so as pp said slate chippings limestone etc can be a good option.

Painting can work but needs a sealent to make it more durable and easier to clean. I had old concrete slabs and painted and made use of cracks for deck lights and wiring.

Brilliant. Thanks everyone. I think I'm errimg towards the edging and gravel / slate option as it'll be doable on my budget. Also seen lovely giant leaf effect stepping stones online. They'd look fantastic.

The only issue with the gravel/slate option IMHO, is that you can't sweep it.
We have a long, slabbed path wth an edging of gravel on one side.
The path, when swept looks pristine - then I have to get down on my hands and knees to pick out all the rubbish/leaves/fag ends that get caught in the gravel.
We do back on to several large poplar trees though and I am quite anal about fallen leaves.
It's the gardening equivalent to bits on the carpet in my view.