WiseAcre Gardens

Sandstone Garden Path

Posted by WiseAcre on Apr 15th, 2009

2009

Apr 15

Well the first garden path of the year is behind me now. Sometimes I do finish what I start. I can’t take all the blame though since getting good sandstone slabs is harder than you might think. I didn’t finish this walk last year since the supply of good slabs ran out.

Sandstone source

Availability isn’t the only problem. The supply ‘store’ is not much more than a hole in the ground surrounded by piles of rock. Believe me hand picking stone can be a pain in the backside. Digging through the piles to hand pick usable stone, getting it to the truck and then loading it all takes it’s toll. Then once I get it to where it’s needed I have to unload. It is slabs like these and not the big 7 ft x 4 ft ones that are back breakers.

Slabs on truck

I try to lay the stone as it comes off the truck. Believe me you don’t want to move it any more than you have to. This is where the fun begins. Building a walk with slabs is like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. The only difference is you need to cut the pieces to fit. It really is not hard. A chisel and hammer works just fine. Now it takes some really good whacks with the hammer so you better have good eye-hand coordination. Even then, I can attest to having some fingers that don’t feel like they used to.

Sandstone cutting

This is where picking the right stone makes all the difference. You want good solid stone – not flaky or loosely layered for cutting. Fresh stone (yes fresh) will cut easy, old stone that’s been exposed to the air for a long time gets hard and brittle and will shatter in directions you don’t want.

This is what I call a rough walk. The edges are not perfect and the width varies some. Since the idea is to have plants overlap the edges it doesn’t make much sense to over do the labor or to waste large slabs by cutting them up for that perfect fit. Close enough is all that’s needed here.

Sandstone Garden Walk

The boulders were placed last year.

Chaple Street Garden

child: – Mommy why does that guy have a big rock on his truck?
Mom:- Because he’s an idiot, sweetheart.
child: – Why is he an idiot?
mom: – Because he puts big rocks on his truck.

15 Responses

Ratty Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Even though it looks like it is obviously very hard work, I can see where it would all be worth it in the end. Creating something like this must be very fulfilling.

Ratty,
You went and used that 4 letter word. I don’t appreciate people using it around me especially when they imply I might be doing some. But yes it is and yes it is.
Heather Says:
April 15th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
WiseAcre- you are killing me! I love the ad-libbing at the end of the post. I would now like you to come build me a pretty path like that one. Our rocks in Idaho are not so pretty. Very nice, can’t wait to see it planted.
Heather

Heather,
I hope you’re OK, I’m not sure if it would be considered negligent manslaughter if I made someone laugh to death.

If you could only see this sandstone up close. The color and patterns in it are absolutely gorgeous. It’s a bit rare. Only a few layers in all the strata make good slabs. It wouldn’t be available at all but a property owner is digging it up himself. I don’t know but I’d be surprised if there wasn’t some nice stone in potato land.

The garden is pretty much planted – spring is a late comer around here and things are just starting to emerge. You can be sure I’ll be showing it off as things fill out.
cindee Says:
April 16th, 2009 at 12:03 am
The walkway is just beautiful! I would love one in my yard too.(-: I can’t imagine how your back must feel after all that work. Or your hands!

cindee,
It’s only a simple path meant to be hidden from view once the plants claim their rightful attention. Just wait till I get to the one that will be meant to view.

You don’t want to know how my back feels. My wife isn’t the jealous type but who knows what would happen if she caught you with your hands on me.
Racquel Says:
April 16th, 2009 at 10:23 am
That walkway looks great! Looks like all that heavy lifting was worth it for the results you achieved in your yard.

Racquel,
I only wish I had stone paths in my yard. I’ve got shoemaker’s syndrome, I do for others but my yard goes without. I do have some stonework – I had to experiment with a stone wall in a pond
Monica Says:
April 16th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Wow, everything looks so nice! It was worth it getting stoned!

Monica,
It looks better in flashbacks with all the colors.
amy Says:
April 16th, 2009 at 11:52 am
That path is GORGEOUS…I am so very VERY jealous! I want one!!!

amy,
I’m pleased to meet you jealous. Move close by and I’ll do one for you too.
Ilona Says:
April 16th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I love your stone paths! Everything is looking terrific I always thought the addition of stone paths and boulders give a great character to a garden space.

Ilona,
IMO a garden is not complete without stone and water. I won’t press on the water but I’ll stone everyone I work for.
Joy Says:
April 16th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Dear Mr. WiseA**
I don’t care how much you charge .. they can never pay you ENOUGH !
I wish we were neighbors so you could do my pathways ? : )
You do excellent work and I would recommend you to anyone ?
Wink Wink
PS .. hope your back is feeling better … and .. you are getting too old to be doing this .. higher a young grunt laborer !!

Joy,
You can’t pay me enough. I’m afraid I don’t work for anyone. I only work for someone.

I’m afraid that someone dumb enough to do the grunt labor isn’t smart enough to do the job.
Lisa Says:
April 17th, 2009 at 9:37 am
LOL!! I like your use of humor to get through the pain! Looks great, and I think the informal quality of it makes it seem as if it was already part of the natural landscape.

Lisa,
They do say laughter is the best medicine. I’m still tying to figure out what it cures though.
It also makes an excellent weed barrier.
ryan Says:
April 20th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Good looking path, nice thick slabs. Handpicking like that costs me about a fingernail per year. Once I get it to the jobsite I’m fine, but something about big loose piles of stone brings out the reckless clumsy eight year old in me.

ryan,
Some people press flowers, we press fingers. I get like a kid in a candy store when I go to the piles. My eyes are bigger than my ~~stomach~~ truck.
WiseAcre Gardens Blog Archive Sandstone Garden Path | My Site Says:
May 31st, 2009 at 11:51 pm
[...] WiseAcre Gardens Blog Archive Sandstone Garden Path Posted by root 6 minutes ago (http://wiseacre-gardens.com) The walkway is just beautiful i would love one in my yard too i can 39 t imagine how your leave a comment wiseacre gardens is powered by wordpress Discuss | Bury | News | WiseAcre Gardens Blog Archive Sandstone Garden Path [...]
Tristen Says:
June 5th, 2009 at 10:47 am
The dolly and the two planks to remove the sandstone from the truck is a great idea. Thanks. As far as the job, thumbs up from this critic.
serat Says:
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:01 am
That was a nice read
jona Says:
July 3rd, 2009 at 7:48 am
That was a nice read
Ben Says:
July 10th, 2009 at 11:56 am
with some grass between the pieces will look just great.you did a great job all by yourself.Bravo.now looking back was or wasn’t worthy all the work and pain?:D i think it was more then worthy.Enjoy it!