Tuscan, Chester or Granitic Sand: Choosing Path Toppings

Toppings are the compactable crushed stone surface that finishes a garden path, a courtyard, or an informal driveway. They give you the look of loose gravel with the practicality of something that packs down and stays put underfoot. All three of ours do the same structural job, so the choice comes down mostly to colour — and to one question we get asked constantly, which we'll answer honestly at the end.

Tuscan Toppings — warm and earthy

Tuscan Toppings is a decorative crushed stone blend in warm, earthy tones. The colour palette leans Mediterranean, and it sits comfortably against terracotta, render and olive-toned planting.

Use it for: garden pathways, informal driveways, and decorative garden beds in Mediterranean or rustic-style gardens.

Chester Toppings — neutral and versatile

Chester Toppings is the neutral option. Consistent colour and texture make it the easiest of the three to tie different areas of a property together without the surface itself becoming a design statement.

Use it for: pathways, driveways and decorative ground cover where you want a clean, cohesive look across several areas.

Granitic Sand — the firmest finish

Granitic Sand is crushed granite sand. It is finer than the other two and compacts to the firmest surface of the three, which makes it the closest thing to paving you can get without laying pavers.

Use it for: garden paths that get real foot traffic, informal driveways, and any compactable garden surface where you want a natural stone finish that stays put.

Comparing the three

Product	Tone	Best suited to
Tuscan Toppings	Warm, earthy	Mediterranean and rustic gardens
Chester Toppings	Neutral	Most garden styles, larger areas
Granitic Sand	Natural granite	Paths needing the firmest finish

What about Lilydale toppings?

Lilydale is the best-known name in Victorian toppings and plenty of people come to us asking for it by name. Chester Toppings is a comparable crushed stone product, laid the same way and used for the same jobs. Rather than tell you they are identical, we would rather talk it through — call us on 1300 21 21 11 and we will explain the difference honestly so you can decide.

Laying them properly

Toppings are a surface, not a base. Spread straight onto soil they will sink, rut and grow weeds through within a season. They want a compacted crushed rock base underneath — our guide on building a compacted gravel path covers the full build-up.

As a working figure, a topping layer is 25–50mm finished. For a path 10m long and 1m wide at 40mm, that's 0.4m³ of toppings — plus the crushed rock underneath, which is the larger number.

Ordering

Browse the Toppings collection. Bear in mind the base and the topping are two different materials, so they travel as two loads and are charged as two deliveries — worth factoring in when you're pricing the job.