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r.p.mcmurphy
 
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Default laying a stepping stone path in a lawn

hi all, i am looking for advice in how to lay a stepping stone type path way
for my garden. i am hoping to use reclaimed yorkstones or similar and to
have them at a level of the base other the grass so i can drive my mower
over them whilst cutting the grass. i have a pal who has a wacker plate and
i was thinking of just running the plate over the area i am going to path
and removing the turf to match the stones shape and dropping the stone in.
is this ok...or is it gonna be a lot more work?

Steve


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The Natural Philosopher
 
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r.p.mcmurphy wrote:

hi all, i am looking for advice in how to lay a stepping stone type path way
for my garden. i am hoping to use reclaimed yorkstones or similar and to
have them at a level of the base other the grass so i can drive my mower
over them whilst cutting the grass. i have a pal who has a wacker plate and
i was thinking of just running the plate over the area i am going to path
and removing the turf to match the stones shape and dropping the stone in.
is this ok...or is it gonna be a lot more work?

Steve


Depends on what yuour soil is like. The 'pukka' job would involve going
down deeper and making up a bed of sharp sand with maybe 10% ecment
thrown in to stop it washing away. This ensures the load is spread
evenly over the soil. You can make oversize holes and tamp down to
frgrass level wioth a rubber mallet, and then fill around the edges with
scrap turf.

In very unstable soil a real substrate of hardcore or crushed limestine
will make a base you can drive a truck over.

I'm on clay here, and simply laying slabs was OK for a while, but
ultimately they ended up sagging and crooked. So I went overkill last
year with deep substrates and sand. It's a bit of a decision as to how
much your soil will compact, and how long you want the things there.
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r.p.mcmurphy
 
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"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
r.p.mcmurphy wrote:

hi all, i am looking for advice in how to lay a stepping stone type path
way for my garden. i am hoping to use reclaimed yorkstones or similar
and to have them at a level of the base other the grass so i can drive my
mower over them whilst cutting the grass. i have a pal who has a wacker
plate and i was thinking of just running the plate over the area i am
going to path and removing the turf to match the stones shape and
dropping the stone in. is this ok...or is it gonna be a lot more work?

Steve

Depends on what yuour soil is like. The 'pukka' job would involve going
down deeper and making up a bed of sharp sand with maybe 10% ecment thrown
in to stop it washing away. This ensures the load is spread evenly over
the soil. You can make oversize holes and tamp down to frgrass level wioth
a rubber mallet, and then fill around the edges with scrap turf.

In very unstable soil a real substrate of hardcore or crushed limestine
will make a base you can drive a truck over.

I'm on clay here, and simply laying slabs was OK for a while, but
ultimately they ended up sagging and crooked. So I went overkill last year
with deep substrates and sand. It's a bit of a decision as to how much
your soil will compact, and how long you want the things there.


i have dug down about 2 foot for footings for the new garage and the sides
didn't cave in or crumble, i think i have a clay type soil therefore. i
have a compactor plate so if i run that over the lawn and make sure its well
compacted...is it more likely to be ok? the only fiddly bit will be cutting
out the turf to the right depth all over before laying the stone.

Steve


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Sue
 
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In message ,
r.p.mcmurphy writes

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

I'm on clay here, and simply laying slabs was OK for a while, but
ultimately they ended up sagging and crooked. So I went overkill last year
with deep substrates and sand. It's a bit of a decision as to how much
your soil will compact, and how long you want the things there.


The soil doesn't compact, what's happening (as demonstrated by Charles
Darwin well over a century ago) is that earthworms are slowly but surely
moving the soil (or sand, or limestone - they like limestone) from
underneath your slabs to on top of them.
Go with the flow - every so often, lift them and level them with some
more sand.

have a compactor plate so if i run that over the lawn and make sure its well
compacted...is it more likely to be ok?


The compacted lawn won't grow very well. Plants like their soil pretty
much as spongy as possible, so that water can drain away and air can
reach the roots.
Compacted clay is a good base for a pond or puddle though.

--
Sue ]
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Bob Eager
 
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On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 23:01:54 UTC, Sue wrote:

In message ,
r.p.mcmurphy writes

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...

I'm on clay here, and simply laying slabs was OK for a while, but
ultimately they ended up sagging and crooked. So I went overkill last year
with deep substrates and sand. It's a bit of a decision as to how much
your soil will compact, and how long you want the things there.


The soil doesn't compact, what's happening (as demonstrated by Charles
Darwin well over a century ago) is that earthworms are slowly but surely
moving the soil (or sand, or limestone - they like limestone) from
underneath your slabs to on top of them.


In fact, you can go to his old house and see it still happening, with
the same stone (known as...the Wormstone!)

--
Bob Eager
begin a new life...dump Windows!


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Rick
 
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On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 22:38:07 -0000, "r.p.mcmurphy"
wrote:

hi all, i am looking for advice in how to lay a stepping stone type path way
for my garden. i am hoping to use reclaimed yorkstones or similar and to
have them at a level of the base other the grass so i can drive my mower
over them whilst cutting the grass. i have a pal who has a wacker plate and
i was thinking of just running the plate over the area i am going to path
and removing the turf to match the stones shape and dropping the stone in.
is this ok...or is it gonna be a lot more work?

Steve


Wot I did for me mum, was to cut out the turf arround the stone, level
the hole with sand, and put in the stone, so the mower can run over
the top.

One of the sank, so we lifted it, put in more sand, and put it down
again.

Now I could have made a concrete base for them all, but if she wants
to get rid of them in future, which is likley, it would be a big job,
and putting extra sand in once a year makes me dad feel usefull.

Rick

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