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Gardening with Stone

Using large irregular stones for patio/paths?

12 years ago

How feasible do people think it would be for me to "pave" a small patio around a firepit, as well as a path leading to the fire pit area, using large, irregularly-shaped found stones?

I live in an area of New Hampshire (the "Granite State") which is extremely rocky. Very old natural grey granite stone walls edge all the roads in my area, and criss-cross my own property. Plenty more stones are buried just beneath the surface of the ground. I don't like the idea of disturbing the stone walls, even where they're beginning to get buried, but I've got plenty of other stone which could be put to use. My husband and I have installed a firepit which is edged in these naturally-occuring stones (looks great), and are now looking for a material to use for a surrounding patio. The firepit is in a wooded area, and we'd like the patio to blend with the surroundings. We'd also like to spend as little money as possible, as we have several big projects ahead this summer.

I'm wondering... some of the rocks I could use are flat-ish on one or both sides, but most are quite round or irregular. We're not terribly concerned about having a completely smooth patio surface. Does it sound feasible to just dig as deeply into the ground as needed to set these stones flush with the ground surface? I like that idea, along with either filling the cracks between the stones with either sand, or allowing grass or moss to grow in between. I'm not terribly concerned about some shifting or upheaval in winter, as I'm going for a natural look in a rural area.

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Comments (4)

User
12 years ago
As long as they are flat enough to avoid broken ankles it sounds like a good idea.

Place the largest stones first, and fill in with smaller ones laid at the same height.
jugglerguy
12 years ago
I've done exactly what you're thinking about doing, if I understand you correctly. I look for rocks with a flat side and bury the rest. I've done this with a couple of long paths. I'm inside taking a short break from installing flagstone for a patio I'm building. I decided to use flatter stones for the patio because I'd don't want my benches or chairs to be tippy. Check out my post here called "Fire Pit and Patio Construction". Also look at my page in the link below for many more pictures of my paths with more rounded stone.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone path and other garden pictures
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Thanks lazygardens! I'll keep that in mind. Unfortunately, the pavers I looked at at HD will be trick around the corners if I try to double-up on them. The angles just aren't narrow enough to make the cut doubled-up. A single-width path would be nice still so I may consider doing that. Not quite sure the best way to handle the mud however. When it rains it becomes a mess out there. The woodchips seemed to have handled this well, but my wife doesn't like woodchips at all. What other options would we have to making the ground out there a little more absorbent and not so muddy during the wet season?
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krikit
12 years ago
jugglerguy, your garden and stonework are fabulous!
User
12 years ago
I've just started this. Turns out you need a lot of rocks. I gather a few every time I go near some place with rocks but I fear it's going to take years to make my 40' path.

Sadly the rocks in my yard that are a pain in the butt for gardening because I keeping running into them are only large gravel sized.

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