Check on the Gardening with Stone Forum. It has been discussed there.

yea....they didnt respond there either....I guess no one is qualified to answer.

You might find some earlier threads that address your question. Do a search using a few different search terms.

If your rocks are odd sizes, I think you're going to find it difficult to get them laid evenly. I'd dig out the path to a depth equal to the depth of the stones, and put a bed of sand down. If frost heave is going to be a problem where you live, or the drainage is poor (clay soil?) you may want to go even deeper and put some crushed stone down first.

If it rains hard, or your path is not on perfectly level ground, soil placed between the stones may wash out and make a muddy mess. I'd use sand, which will allow water to seep through and hopefully away from the path.

If you plant grass around the stones, it may eventually grow over the tops. I know it does where I live, with cool-season grasses. You'd have to keep trimming the grass around the stones to keep them clear, but if it's the look you want, it's do-able.

Hi coopcarcam,

If you have sandy soil that drains perfectly and no deep freezes you can probably get away with laying stone directly on your existing soil. I did so a couple of years ago and have been pleasantly surprised that nothing has moved. I expected to have to make some adjustments each spring to keep everything stable...but so far, haven't had to do a thing.

If you have any clay or low spots that hold water, you'd be wise to put sand, or crushed gravel & sand, down first. I'm guessing that you get more winter freezing that I do in zone 8.

A sand base will make the slabs easier to level while you're placing them, too.

You'll probably get grass growing between the stones if you don't want any there, and not a blade, if you do... I have a combination of grass and weeds in mine.

It's a labor intensive job, and it really helps if you are good at jigsaw puzzles. You also don't want to be dealing with rocks that are too heavy because they will be moved around a lot.

How I do it, is to dig out maybe six inches. On average, the stone is about 2 - 4 inches thick. I then pour in a base of maybe two inches of stone dust. Now the fun starts. I have a rough idea of how the stone will fit together. It's stuff I dug up in the backyard, and is probably best described as poor quality bluestone. It's very irregular. A couple of stone go together, with level adjustments until it's reasonably good. Some of the adjustment is from adding more stone dust, some is from digging deeper into the soil. It usually takes a couple of tries to get it right. A particularly nasty rock might have to be replaced more than half a dozen times.

In heavy soil, is a cold climate, this has produced fairly durable paths. The oldest is about 5 years old, and hasn't moved at all.

BTW, this isn't at all how you do cut stone.

Thank you all for your help. I am in ft worth texas - so there are not to many days of freezing. We do have clay soil and plenty of it. When I rip up the sod that creates about 2 inches of depth. I plan on raking up the rest and smooth it out. Then apply a sand base. Then take my time w/ the rocks and layout. Then a top coat of top soil.
Some of you sound skeptical of the grass in between. Do you think it will be tough to manage or look bad? Any suggestions?
Also - I went to Lowes and Home depot and they seem to only carry play sand and pavers sand.

Thanks alot!

I think grass in between your stones would look fine so long as you can mow over the stones to keep it the same height as the rest of your lawn. But it is bermuda so it will spread rather aggressively sending stolons not just in between your stones but on top of them and that could look a little messy. I'm assuming you have a hybrid variety if you have sod and it isn't as bad as the common variety but it will still send little runners every which way.

Clumping grasses like fescue look very nice around a stone path IMHO but the bermuda might end up being a chore.

Maria - who has been battling common burmuda for 16 years

Does jugglerguy still post here? He has some interesting paths that he created with collected rocks. Below is a link to his member page. From that page there is a link to his "home page" that has pictures of his garden and paths.

- Brent

Here is a link that might be useful: jugglerguy - Member Page

Yeah, not only make sure you can mow over them, but you might need to use a weedwacker or something else in addition to the lawnmower if you have grass in between the rocks.