7 tips for maintaining a patio or path

Keep your patio or path looking neat and devoid of any tripping hazards with these seven tips.

• Don't allow dead leaves, spent tree blossoms, seedpods, and other organic matter to pile up on your patio. In addition to being unsightly, such debris can harbour insects and leave behind dark spots on concrete and flagstones.
• Keep patios neat by regularly sweeping them with an outdoor-quality straw broom or a leaf-blower.

• Grease from barbecue grills, rusty patio furniture, and leaf tannins can all leave their marks on your patio. Most stains can be rubbed out with a bit of scouring.
• Spot-treat grease, leaf marks, and other stains with a solution of four litres (one gallon) of warm water and 250 millilitres (one cup) of trisodium phosphate (TSP) or a TSP substitute, a heavy-duty cleanser available at most hardware stores. Scrub well with a long-handled, stiff-bristle brush, then hose the spot off (the runoff won't harm surrounding plants).
• You can also use this solution to give your patio an annual spring scrub-down.

• Few things can mar a patio's appearance worse than orange rust stains, but the good news is you don't have to learn to live with them.
• Remove rust from concrete by sprinkling some dry cement powder over it and rubbing with a small piece of flagstone. This pumice-like combination effectively scrubs off the stain.
• Rust on patio stones can often be removed by the citric acid found in powdered lemonade mixes. First, wet the stone, then cover the stain with the mix. Cover the powder with a sheet of plastic (to prevent the moisture from evaporating), and put a weight on top to hold it in place for 10 to 20 minutes. Then scrub with a stiff-bristled brush, and rinse off.

• Keep extra pavers or bricks on hand in case you need to replace any in your patio.
• To ensure that your surplus stock will weather at the same rate and be the same colour as those you may want to replace, store them outdoors.

• Have ants started colonizing the paver joints or crevices in your patio? Before you call the exterminator or reach for the bug spray, try flooding them out by pouring boiling water over the mounds.
• Another approach is to spray the mounds and surrounding area with a 50/50 solution of water and white vinegar or glass cleaner mixed with some dishwashing soap.
• Sprinkling some ground black pepper or cayenne powder on top of the mounds is yet another way to send the ants packing.

• Loose path material — gravel, pebbles, or wood or bark chips — typically gets displaced to the edges, where there is less traffic. To restore its even distribution, use a lawn rake to pull the material back into place.
• This actually serves two purposes, as it also helps dislodge weeds, leaves, twigs, and other debris.
• Don't forget to replenish your path material as needed.

• Coating pavers, flagstones, or bricks with a water sealer will enhance their colour and provide protection against stains.
• Clean the stone before applying the sealer; use a power washer, if needed.
• Reapply the sealer every two to five years.