Hex Your Garden – Using Belgard Mega-Arbel Irregular Hexagon Pavers
in Media, PA

 Rectangles and square corners do not commonly occur in nature. Hexagons are more natural, e.g., bee honeycombs, bubbles on water surfaces.

Come to Don Carpenter’s workshop to learn how to use hexagonal Belgard Mega-Arbel Pavers to design and install unique garden features: steppingstones, paths, sidewalks, steps, seating areas, bed borders, water feature basins, etc. Bring your imagination and project ideas to brainstorm simple or complex additions to your personal gardens or flower show displays.

A Belgard Mega-Arbel patio slab is a manufactured concrete irregular hexagon; 15⅜” wide X 21” long X 2⅜” thick, weighing 39.1 pounds. They are all the same shape but have six false-seam top patterns that give a random smaller stone look. A set of the slabs can be arranged to form much larger hexagons or other shapes or pockets. The assembly edges can be left uncut to be plant pockets or easily cut to be straight lines.

Don Carpenter joined HPS in 2023 when members of the Delaware Valley Water Garden Society (DVWGS) became part of HPS/MAG. A new Water Garden Special Interest Group (SIG) was created. Don knows water gardens, and Don also knows pavers. He led the construction of a 12- by 28-foot PHS water feature display which won two gold medals at the 2020 Philadelphia Flower Show. At the close of the show, Don organized the salvage of most of the DVWGS exhibit materials and 50 pallets of Belgard products from many other displays. A couple of pallets were Mega-Arbel pavers from the Belgard exhibit. After a Covid delay, Don built a 4-pot 5-fountain water feature at the Linvilla outdoor garden center using the salvaged Mega-Arbel pavers. In 2022 he designed and built another much more elaborate water feature near the entrance to the Linvilla Garden Center which also used the Mega-Arbel pavers.

Don has used Mega-Arbel pavers extensively in his own yard for a patio surrounding his shed, front walkways and garden paths, and as splash stones in two of his water features. He also designed and helped build garden seating areas and paths at the homes of several fellow DVWGS members.

Mega-Arbel pavers can be used to create a long list of multi-stone arrangements, many with interesting names (e.g., star stack, turtle, big bird, ill-eagle, bow tie). Don has many full-size cardboard patterns of these pavers that he will use to explain how to create the various multi-stone arrangements. Don will share his lessons learned, give you ideas for your specific projects, and show you how easy it is to understand and work with Mega-Arbel pavers. You should be able to design a project that does not need to have any stones cut. You will also learn how easy it is to cut them if you need to.

Feel free to bring a picnic lunch, stay for a while to tour Don’s wife Linda’s beautiful gardens, sit by the waterfall, relax, and socialize. Rain or shine. The workshop will be in Don’s garage if it rains.

This event is open to members and nonmembers, but registration is required. The cost is $5 for members; $15 for nonmembers. Maximum number of attendees is 20. A waitlist will be created if needed.

Click here to register. Registration closes April 28^th. Address will be provided in the registration confirmation email.

Contact: Elizabeth Stinson at [email protected].