Submit A Project Series: DIY Garden Boardwalk

ManMadeDIY Staff|DIY & Woodworking|5 Mar 2025

This post is part of our Submit a Project Series. For today we have a submission from Mike W, who recently created a garden boardwalk in his backyard.

Check out how Mike made his boardwalk—and how you can make one too!

Supplies Used:

-4x4s - for the base

-5/16ths deck boards - for the surface

-Wood screws

-Level

-Impact driver

-Circular saw

-Landscape Fabric

-Pea gravel

Step One:

The area before it was leveled out had old stones and uneven ground that was difficult to walk on. Photo by: Mike W

The first step to any successful project is having a clean workspace! All the stones in the area were removed, and the ground was leveled out. We leveled it out by transferring some dirt to other areas of the backyard until the area was flat.

Step One: Leveling out the land

To level out the ground, some dirt had to be transferred to other areas of the yard. Photo by: Mike W

Step Two:

Mapping out the boardwalk shape with 4x4s. Photo by: Mike W

As part of the planning process, we laid out the 4x4s to understand the shape the boardwalk would be.

Step Three:

Landscape fabric was cut to fit underneath the boardwalk. Photo by: Mike W

Once the shape was decided, I measured and cut the landscape fabric to fit the area.

Step Four:

Pea gravel topped the landscape fabric to provide drainage. Photo by: Mike W

The landscape fabric was then covered with pea gravel. We did this so the 4x4s could sit right on top but still have drainage, preventing them from rotting quickly.

Step Five:

After the pea gravel, I laid the 4x4s back down. During this step, we also leveled everything out again to make sure the finished boardwalk would be flat.

Step Six:

1x1 deck boards make up the surface of the boardwalk. Photo by: Mike W

We attached one of the deck boards to the foot of the boardwalk, then started adding deck boards (5/4 x 6 x 16). In between each, we used a smaller board to level and used a nail to place between each board so there was drainage space.

Step Seven:

We secured the boards with wood screws using an impact driver. For each time a deck board crossed over a 4x4, we used two wood screws.

Step Eight:

All the boards were secured with wood screws. Photo by: Mike W

With all the boards placed and secured, I used a circular saw to trim the edge, to create a smooth line.

Step Nine:

Photo by: Mike W

Once the boardwalk is complete, all that was left to do was tidy up. We trimmed up any excess landscape fabric that was visible around the area, and removed loose pea gravel.

Step Ten:

King Theo enjoying his new garden boardwalk. Photo by: Mike W

The final step was to add plants to the surrounding garden beds, and of course, a cute dog.