Another flagstone path...

HERE I shared a flagstone patio I did at my last house. I loved that area. I am grateful I have a covered front porch in this house, but I didn’t at the Lankford house and this little “patio” really opened up the front of the house.

I also shared how to repair flagstone HERE.

HERE I shared how to set a grinding stone walk way.

These were just a few of my stone walk projects. The Lankford house had a good 10-15 tons of flagstone walks and gardens…I love it!

One thing I don’t love is small rock…unfortunately there is one area in our yard that I decided I have no choice.

It is on the south side of the house but it is completely shaded by trees and I think our neighbor’s garden pond leaches into the area keeping it damp.

When it rained or there was a snow melt, water would pool in this area.

No sun, constant damp = no grass.

Out of sight, out of mind. So I have done little here, other than attempt to seed and grow grass, to no avail.

I have two big dogs who like to run and play and always seem to gravitate to this area and inevitably their muddy paw prints end up all over my house! I HAD to so something.

I decided to do a rock pathway.

AGAIN, there are hundreds of great tutorials on how to lay rock pathways. Find one that works for you!

I started by scraping down the area about 1-2” and compacting it well with a garden tamper, paying close attention to the grade. I wanted to make sure there was a gradual fall from the back of the house to the front.

This is where a lot of tutorials suggest putting down “garden fabric.” I do not. I don’t like it and I am willing to spray a little roundup on any weeds that may pop through from time to time.

Some also suggest putting down a firmer base. In some areas you may definitely want to do that. I did not do that here because I didn’t feel like it need it.

The next thing I did was put down sand where the flagstones where going to be set.

This is a super important step in my opinion. First, you want the large stones (whether flagstone or paver stones) to sit on a “clean” base…no rocks or pebbles. If a rock were to work its way into underside of the stepping stone and you put pressure on it by stepping on it, it could break. Second, it gives you a soft “pliable” base…so when you set your rock, it is easy to make adjustments by adjusting the amount of sand…just pick up the stone and easily remove or add sand as needed.

I usually add about 1-2” of sand. After putting down the sand I wet it down well then I used a long 2x4 and dragged it over the sand several times to level it out, again paying close attention to the grade of the area…you DO NOT want to create low spots where rain water and snow melt won’t drain!

Since I was creating a “path” I “walked” the path to see where I wanted each stone to set. I wanted the stones to kind of match my stride.

I leveled each stone as I set it, starting from the lowest area by the front gate and working my way back to the highest point by the corner of the house. There is only about a 6” drop in this 22’ span so I had to be very careful and pay close attention to that grade.

This is where you want to make sure you are not doing anything to impeded the natural flow of any water shed.

For example on the other side of the front gate is the side yard of the front of the house. It is already has a good grade and I wanted to make sure that what I did was not “lower” than that grade, creating a dam.

I also wanted to make sure I wasn’t altering the grade so that water actually flowed toward the house…that could be a major issue! So each stone needed to either be perfectly level or slant slightly away from the house, never towards the house.

Once all the pavers were set and leveled, I hosed down the area so that the sand leached under the rocks, filling any voids that might have been created by all the movement.

Next up was the gravel. You may wonder where I got all this rock. At the rock store, of course…lol! I was talking to my daughter when I went to pick out my rock and mentioned I was going to the rock store…she laughed at the fact that there really is a “rock store.” I picked out my rock, determined how much I needed, then paid them to deliver it. I had hoped they could deliver it to my back yard, but their little machine couldn’t fit through the side gate so I had to wheel barrel four thousand pounds of rock around my back yard! Yes, I hurt like heck this week!!!!

I decided I wanted a “path look” to the rock…so I picked out two different rocks. A small brown rock and a larger multi colored.

I used a 6’ piece of garden edger between each rock to create a crisp line. Put it in place, lay rock on both sides, walk on the rock a bit to bed it down, then just pick up the piece of edging. I used the garden tamper as I went to bed the rock a bit more.

I think this looks super awesome…course the first things the dogs did were run back there and scatter rocks so I am not sure how long this “crisp” look will last.

So far so good…

We have had one light rain and of course it is spring so I am sure we will get some heavy rains in the next few weeks. I held back a few buckets of rock so if there is any settling or pooling I can add more if needed.

Eventually I may add some shade loving plantings…someday. Again, out of site out of mind.

While I was digging around and creating pathways I decided to tackle another area as well. This one will highlight the grindstones that were my grandfather’s. I shared those HERE when I made a path at my other house. It was one of the things I made sure did not convey in the sale…yep, we dug them up and moved them here. They have been sitting under potted plants for over a year but Brian had a wonderful suggestion for using them and I will run with it…when I can run again.

I will share that at another time…maybe when I get further along in the process. I rarely leave a project half finished but after days of digging and hauling I was just too pooped to finish up Sunday. Fortunately it is it has rained for a few days so I a good excuse to stay inside and work on my quilt project.

Until next week….