Path in the garden with irregular stones: how to make it

Realize uneven floors in the garden

A path in the meadow: With DIY you can build pavements or simple paths of various kinds in your own garden, with a little good will and creative talent.



The picture shows an example of paths achievable in the context of a flower garden, a gravel driveway is in continuation of a path in the meadow, made of irregular stones arranged in a random order.

Realizing paths in the garden with irregular stones: laying phase

Walkways and terraces laid with stones or slabs of irregular shape are always appreciated; it is believed that the effect of randomness is more attractive than the geometric precision and also relatively easy to obtain.
In these cases, a good eye for shapes and proportions and an aptitude for spatial art are even more important than technical and manual skills.



There are different types of materials suited to make irregular floorings: you can use broken concrete slabs, if you can find enough, but the solution aesthetically and ecologically viable is offered by the so-called split natural stone, which must be of a thickness of about 3-4 cm.
The layered rocks that naturally split into thin slabs are ideal for composing paths with irregular shape and are available at fairly low prices.

One proceeds by tracing the edges of the path by means of ropes or strings, even if the edges do not necessarily have to be precisely defined.
Alternatively, you can let the stones forming irregular connections with the grass or gravel, putting one or two single stones over the edge of the driveway, to better demarcate some areas of the garden.

Along the way, roughly bounded by the ropes, you need to remove the soil and to replace it with a layer of sand, where you will place directly the stones on.

You fix an area of flooring by choosing the stones that may be as complementary as possible between them, avoiding to leave continuous linear joints.

If necessary, the stones can be trimmed with mallet and chisel with a wide blade, taking care to reserve the larger stones to define the perimeter of the driveway.
Plunge the individual stones in the sand bed with a wooden mallet or a hammer and a block of wood, until they are stable and flat.

Phase of leveling and finishing for driveway of uneven stones

Once covered an area of about one square meter, check, equipped with straight edge and level, the coplanarity of the stones.
If necessary, add or remove sand below the individual stones until the surface is perfectly level.
After completing most of the area of the driveway, fill in the gaps with small stones, hammering them in place with the wooden mallet.



Spreads more sand, letting it penetrate through the joints, helping simply with a broom.
Alternatively, you can prepare a hard mortar, almost dry, taking care to press it within the joints, using the trowel.
Finish your work by smoothing the mortar joints with an old brush and polish the stones passing over a wet sponge.

Path on the lawn with stepping-stones

To achieve very scenic effects and decorate selectively the different outdoor various areas, you can design distinctive and diverse paths in shape and constitution of the materials themselves.



In the image in the picture we have the vision of a varied garden, where beautiful flower beds are surrounded by rocks and linked together through gravel paths and typical paths in ford stones, that is composed of individual stones placed one after the other.

To form a row of ford stones, you need to lay single stones or slabs in the meadow, forming a well curved walkway, which confers an eventful whole layout.
Then proceed by cutting along the edges of the stones with the shovel or with the paddle, then carefully remove the sod under every stone.



Once removed a layer of ground, it is replaced with a bed of very coarse sand (2.5 cm) where to rest the stone, which must remain approximately 1.8 cm below the level of the lawn.
Finally, tap every single stone so to arrange it well within the sand, thus forming a homogeneous whole with the surrounding grassy mantle.

When completed, you will be undoubtedly proud to have built practical and ornamental paths in the garden, because the concrete actions of organization of outdoor spaces are refreshing and are a source of satisfaction and represent tangible evidence of active participation in the miracle of nature.

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