I did a search for "stone patio" on this forum, and turned up a bunch of old threads on the topic. There have been discussions about the pros and cons of various materials and construction techniques, as well as questions from DIYers.

River pebbles or pea stone, or any rounded stones are going to be difficult to walk on, though they are pretty to look at. The smaller ones will shift around and if they are scattered onto a harder surface, will be like walking on marbles. Crushed stone, which has an irregular angular shape, will compact better, especially if mixed with a finer stone product. Ask at a local stone yard about what they have that will compact well. If you tell them what you are trying to do, they may suggest the appropriate material to use.

You can blow large dry pieces of leaves and twigs off of crushed stone, but smaller pieces, especially if wet, will get stuck between the stones in time and create a nice environment for weed seeds to germinate. Be prepared to weed, and possibly to topdress with fresh stone once in a while.

Read through the linked discussions, and find out which materials are available in your area. Whatever you do, digging out for the base and moving the stone is heavy work. Maybe you could hire a couple of guys for a day to help with the digging if it's too much to do alone? You'll also need a place to dump the mulch/soil you remove. If the area is accessible, maybe you could have the stone delivered and dumped where you need it so you just have to spread it?

There have been some very interesting things done with recycled concrete chunks, try a search here and on the web in general for some ideas. If you can find a source for it and have a way to transport it, you might get your materials for free.

Remember to Call Before You Dig, or whatever they call it where you live. Also, try the Gardening with Stone forum for more info.

Here is a link that might be useful: stone patio

Filling the area with pea gravel would not be a good move, it's difficult to walk on and a pain to keep looking nice. Your dogs can also dig in it easily if they are diggers. The recycled concrete is a neat idea, put it will be of varying thickness so each piece will have to be laid accordingly to end up with smooth surface.

Might I suggest purchasing and spreading the large size pine bark mulch. It will last a long time, and laid thick enough will keep the dogs nice and mud free assuming they aren't diggers. It's what we used in our small back yard at our old home, it was heavily shaded and the dogs killed an grass we tried to plant.

{{gwi:24069}}

{{gwi:13877}}

{{gwi:24070}}

I have another idea for you as well, do the large pine bark for the temporary fix, large meaning 4-5"'s long pieces of bark. Then over time install your own patio by yourself. And to make it unique "make" your own custom pavers out of concrete. You can either build a few molds or buy them, buy the bags of concrete mix fill let dry remove mold custom paver. The neat ones are like this....look at link at bottom of post.

Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: lizard mold

Hi Keith,

I'm going through the same things as you. However, my areas are smaller.

I currently have a narrow area that is filled with gravels (size 1 to 2 cubic inches). Everytime the guys that cut the yard blow the leaves in this area, a few of the gravels do get blown off.

Since you're planning to make a sitting area, gravel would be hard to walk on for a disabled person or an elderly person (your future guests maybe?). If you still want gravel, you may want to buy rolls of landscaping fabric or weed control fabric. Secure them down before pouring the gravel over it to prevent weeds or grass from coming up.

In my case, I've decided to use concrete blocks. They're less expensive than pavers. They come in gray or red color with size of 12" x12" x 2" thick or 4" thick. Lowe's price for the 2" thick is currently on sale for $1 .47 each. I found a local lumber yard vendor that has regular price of $1.27 each. He delivers for much less than Lowe's too. You may want to do the same and search for a local lumber yard rather than a chain store and compare the price.

I also purchased sand to pour an 1" layer underneath and in between the concrete blocks to keep them in place. Something to think about... Since sand is yellowish or grayish, it would look good against red concrete blocks.

If you have many yard service companies that compete in your area, you may check and see if there's one that would come and help you with the work inexpensively. Normally, they team up in 2-3 guys.

By the way, CONGRATULATIONS on your new home :o)

As someone who is trying to remove gravel walkways because of their impracticality, I would suggest you choose to buy the $2,000 worth of pavers, and hire a handy man to help with the work.
You may end up spending a couple grand for the handy man, but you will not be looking 5 years down the road at ripping out what you put in, to put in what you wanted in the first place.

Good luck.

Thanks for all the replies. Definitely appreciated.

Over this past weekend, I started excavating the area, and removed about 4 inches of mulch over about half of the space. The mulch was sitting on a thick very large blue tarp. Over a large area of the space, under the tarp to my surprise was about 5 or 6 inches of stone. I really didn't excpect that.

Here is what I have decided to do. I am going to make a 12 ft by 12 ft flagstone patio in the center of the 23 by 23 space. I am going to surrond this 12 x 12 flagstone area with 2 to 3 inches of red tipple stone, and then make a granite belgian block border around the stone on teh 2 sides that don't already have a retaining wall.

I am excited to start even though my back will surely nto be happy with me. When I get done, I will try to share photos if I can figure out how.

thanks again
KJ

I've seen a few other forums on this site with similar discussions, but this seems to be the most current one.

We live in East Tennessee, zone 7, and have a narrow back yard (about 700-800 square feet) that backs up to a retaining wall and steep hillside. Each side is enclosed by the terrain and by shrubs and trees. When we built the house, we had pea gravel put down with visions of an English garden. Pea gravel does stay clean (occasionally I blow leaves off) and doesn't require mowing but it sticks in some shoe soles, is a little uneven for table, chairs, and grill and to walk on--we want something more solid and level.

We want to convert the space into a kind of courtyard with landscape lighting, container plants, perhaps a pergola, a fire pit, etc. We'll be "paving" about 580 square feet.

We are considering brick pavers, fieldstone, and patterned concrete (we want low budget and low upkeep, but I hope not to end up re-doing later because we made mistakes now).

My questions are about the pea gravel--every hardscape outfit and every mason who's given me an estimate offers conflicting advice, always based on at least 30 years of experience and with certainty in his/her voice. One says the pea gravel has to be raked up and hauled away; another says the pea gravel makes a good base; another says the pea gravel is a good base IF we put sand on top of it; still another says we must pour a concrete slab (1 to 2 in. thick) to lay the bricks or stones on.

If we lay stones dry and allow moss to grow between them, can we put sand on top of the pea gravel and work the stones level on that base? Or should we rake up the pea gravel (4 to 6 inches deep and relatively firm) and get back to the earth (red clay in this case)? Must the pea gravel be removed, or can it be incorporated as part of our base?

Thanks in advance for any of you with pea gravel experience who may take the time to offer your advice.

Better to start a new thread with your question.

Wanted to update the board with some before and after photos. I am almost done; I just have to finish off 1 corner by adding some more red tipple stone and I am going to level and place sod over the area to the left of the patio area. Overall, considering my Dad and myself are total amateurs at this, I am very happy with how it came out. The patio area is 12 x 12 and consists of 36 24 x 24 1.5 inch Flagstone pavers.

thanks KJ

before with mulch on top of a blue tarp:
{{gwi:24071}}

afters:
{{gwi:24072}}

{{gwi:24073}}