How to Properly Lay Walking Stones

Using walking stones in your yard can create a timeless look and feel. The following guide will help you to create the look you desire in your own yard. You can use these stones to create paths that will protect your grass from footsteps in areas you know people are going to cut across, or to add character and beauty to an area you think would benefit from your design. The stones themselves come in a wide array of colors, materials and sizes, and of course are unmatched in durability and low maintenance. The good news is, the job itself is not that hard to do. In fact, the hardest part would be to remove existing concrete if you are laying stones where it already exists. If you are not, then the job is a bit time consuming because you have to use great care in getting it right, especially since it will be a visual draw, but to the extent of difficulty, that will be about as hard as it gets. Now let's get started.

First you will need to gather your tools. For this job, you will need the following:

Safety Goggles

Tape Measure

Knee Pads

Respirator or Dust Mask

Gloves

Level

Pry Bar

One 2x4 Board

Rake

Sledgehammer

Wheelbarrow

Narrow Trowel

Cutoff Saw

Take careful measurements of the space you will be using for your stepping stones and use them to make the following purchases:

Topsoil

Building Sand

Stepping Stones

Plant Growth or Ground Cover to fill the cracks with green life

The first thing you want to do, of course, is to clear the space you will be working in. If the are you are clearing is concrete, put on your respirator or dust mask, gloves, and safety glasses, and then use the cutoff saw to make cracks in the existing concrete. Then use your sledgehammer and pry bar to break up the concrete into little pieces. Throw pieces into wheelbarrow to be hauled away. Rake the surface free of debris and make it level.

Take your building sand and top soil and mix them 1:1. Spread the mixture out on the area to be covered and use your 2x4 to level it out. You ideally want this to be about the depth of your largest stepping stone.

Place your stones in place where you want them to be set. You can mix and match sizes as you see fit. You can group them or space them apart in equal increments.

Push each stone down individually so that it is securely set in the bed you have made for it. Make sure it is tightly fit and does not jiggle or rock. If it does move, you want to redo the fill beneath it to give it a snug fit.

Take pure topsoil (not mixed with building sand) and place it around each stone. Use your broom to spread it out over the entire walkway. Add enough topsoil so that your surface is even to the area around it.

Add your green life of choice (use the advice of a professional to get the best type of green for your geographic location) by using the narrow trowel to edge ground out between stones. Cover the plants with the topsoil you trowled away.

Set up your sprinkler to lightly mist the area and then water as instructed on the green life tags. Using a mossy green will add to the allure that the stones have been in place for quite some time, and it will not grow so rapidly that it will encase the stones. Be sure to follow all instructions on the plant life to ensure they grow as desired.

You now have an individualized path of stones to walk on that will keep you happy for years to come.