You spoil your question by saying 'cheap'! I am very satisfied with the paving and paths that I have laid but they are for walking on and not a wheelchair. I would imagine that for wheelchair use you would want something smooth and the slabs not to wobble at all. I would think that a cement base with paving slabs cemented on top of that would be the best. And probably the most permanent solution would be to get a contractor to do it for you. Not cheap.

Yes - its not difficult, but can be hard work physically. You need to go somewhere with lots of different paving available and look at the cheapest options - probably ordinary squares will be easiest. Bear in mind the larger the paving slab, the smaller the area looks, and a mix of sizes always looks better, but quite honestly, its cheaper to stick to the same size all over, not to mention easier, especially with paths. For narrow paths, its best to have a solid concrete base underneath, specially with the weight of a wheelchair going over it, although if you have heavy clay soil, you'll probably get away with just some aggregate, then sand, then slabs with pointing on larger areas. If you don't lay onto concrete, always best to put a geo-textile membrane underneath the slabs - this is a sort of heavy duty weed membrane (not the thin stuff you can buy in rolls) - this prevents weeds from appearing in any cracks later on.

Ok I will change it from "cheap" to good value. I would like a mix of sizes I think. Would ideally like to do at least the digging to reduce the cost, but will ask for some quotes today. Are there any good online places to buy paving, I googled but there are so many it would be nice to have a recommendation.

I have clay soil but very water logged clay soil - and the back garden is on a slope too.

I'm afraid keeping things cheap as possible is dominating my life at the moment, as lack of funding in any area means we have just had to spend nearly £8000 on special disabled equipment that my son needs.

Can't recommend any online suppliers - I've always gone and had a look first before ordering, so never done it on line before. One piece of advice though - check out builders merchants as well as garden centre suppliers - they're often cheaper (though not always). Places like Wickes and B & Q are worth investigating too. And have a look at the Marshall's website - they make paving and have a wide range available, and that's often what you find at suppliers anyway. Not suggesting buying from them necessarily, but at least you'll get some idea of what's available.

I understand your need to get this project underway and to do it as economically as possible. It is a very labour intensive job so it will depend on how strong and fit you are regarding laying of the slabs.

You can get recycled concrete slabs which would work out cheaper...they likely won't be the modern type of look-like yorkshire stone or whatever but they still can look very attractive.

We have had a patio laid recently (but by contractors) to cover an area of old broken concrete and other mixed surface and we are very happy with it. The sourced recycled concrete slabs to keep costs down but it wasn't an inexpensive project all the same....labour costs !!

If you look at some of my blogs you will see our patio (and the before photos as well on earlier blogs). I hope you are soon able to undertake this work to have an area suitable for your young son's wheelchair. All the best....

Have you asked your local council for financeal aid for this project? Some people seem to get everything done for them.

Thank you for your comments. I will have a look at your blog just now.

Those people that get things for free are not us I'm afraid. We pay for everything here, don't know if that is our council or our position in life. Won't go off on a rant, but it seems that some very deserving people get nothing, and others work the system and nobody does anything about it.

I don't know if this is of any interest, Laura, but last year we paved over an area with real sandstone slabs imported from India (apparantly the slabs are used as balast in ships). We found them very good and easy to use as a walking area, good to look at and less expensive than some concrete ones.
See my blog of 2 November 2010 'Real Stone Paving Slabs' and the web site of the supplier https://www.orderstone.co.uk/

Do you think they would crack or weather frost in all our snow and ice? We had 3 foot in January! I really like the look of sandstone

Provided they're laid correctly, they should be frost proof without a problem - it's house bricks that spall, when used as paths in gardens, they're not designed to cope with it. I take it you're looking at reconstituted sandstone rather than actual sandstone - you'd need a mortgage for the latter, lol!

my slabs were good old B&Q'S and were easy to lay because of their smaller size [less strain on the back ! ]
and were also "cheap" .
A few friends to help and hopefully job would be done in time for your son to get out and enjoy garden.

Laura, I just realised that you are in Aberdeenshire, we live in Moray. Our winter wasn't quite as bad as yours but we had plenty of frost and snow as well!
They stood up to the weather perfectly well. No problems at all. We have concrete slabs looking like stone at the back of the house. One difference that we notice is that road salt causes the concrete slabs to 'pit' but it had no effect at all on the real stone ones. If I ever have to lay more slabs they will be real sandstone.
My only concern for you is that the surface might not be suitable for a wheelchair - I don't know.

I found this on line at 'how to build a patio for a wheelchair user'
The bit about not getting expensive ones you might find useful?
"Concrete slabs/paving stones As long as these are laid properly (ie flat and even), they make an ideal surface – good traction, good drainage, choice of colours, nice and level
etc Avoid the more expensive slabs with uneven “rustic” surfaces – they are hard to wheel over, and crate problems for ambulant disabled and visually impaired people".

You have also to consider gradient if your garden is not totally flat.

There is also a free recycling service called 'Free Cycle' on line, although national your local one may have free paving? Dont forget raised play areas such as a sand pit/water/ seed plants to keep his interest

Thank you for that - I do hope to make some raised beds - maybe walled not wood.

My problem is that I have a totally blank canvas of garden. And I just don't have the skill to plan a garden. It is fairly large and around 3 sides of our house - a 4 year old house - so the soil is full of stones and rubble. It is over looked on all sides, and so windy that it is low walled and I don't know if fences would work. The wind was so strong on Monday that it blew my chicken coop on it's roof - that is a 2 person lift!

I am a huge fan of freecycle and have given away heaps of things on that. Good plan :)

Bulbaholic - You are not far from us at all. We seem to live in the arctic wind tunnel in our village though. We only moved here just over a year ago - and this house really does hit all types of weather on the top scales!

Right back to my good friend google.

We used to live in Craigdam and then New Deer. That is why we moved over to sunny Moray :-)))

If its windy and you've got low walls, I reckon those rigid fence panel sized squared trellis panels, fixed properly, would be fine - they'll let some wind through and provide less resistance, and you could grow deciduous climbers up them.Deciduous would be best to decrease wind resistance during winter. Alternatively, wind resistant hedging plants, which also will let some air through, yet form a bit of a windbreak. Trouble with hedging is, it takes up a fair bit of room, don't know whether you have the space.

Bamboo, 'windy' in Aberdeenshire is 'gale force + 1', in London! I have lived in both places.

Very true :) We know how to do extremes here - a little bit of wind and snow - never - we go 3 feet of snow and so windy my neighbour's roof came off!

Yea, I realise you're a lot worse off there - but I have to tell you, I've lived in Kent - talk about windy, as bad as Norfolk in parts, not to mention snow every year, though still not as bad as Scotland. But even here, I've noticed a significant increase in the amount and frequency of high winds in the last 5 years - global warming I guess.

Definitely getting windier, Bamboo. We seem to be having more strong wind events also.