I was trying to gather material for another short "flagstone" pathway using what flat fieldstone I have on my property and from scrounging, but mostly can come up with only fairly small stones (6-8 " diam). So I plan to buy some good large flagstone for the main stepping area and then use some of the smaller ones near edges and for lesser used zones where I want the stone look but doesn't need to be so stable and I want the kind of plantings between rocks thing. The concept is that you don't necessarily have to walk on the edges or utilize an area right up to its very edge, but the extra few inches of "floor" or pathway zone feels more spacious (and of course it won't HURT to step on the smaller stones). So as noted above, if you can look for commercially available stone that somehow complements your creek stones, you won't need to buy as much stone and could have a more stable heavy traffic/use zone and yet have a beautiful and unique look. You can find some photos of combinations for inspiration and guidance to decide what pattern might look best depending on the areas you are creating. I have seen some with smaller stones for edging, and some in which the smaller stones make a transition and lead into a larger- stone path, and so forth.

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?

Hello - I'm trying to layout a curved front path -- aproximately 3.5 feet wide and 30 feet long that curves like a J to the front door, over our existing lawn. We have plenty of sandstone from a side patio. The sandstone is square and rectangular -- averaging about 2-3 square foot each. My question is how best to use this existing sandstone to achieve an attractive curved dry set path. I have seen some paths in our neighborhood that use square stone but they seem to curve over a longer distance than hours -- and I assume the gaps between stones over a longer distance can allow for a sweeping bend w/out being too large. I'm not sure I can achieve this on a shorter path. Are there any Web references, photos, guides you can suggest? Rules of thumb for laying out an attractive flagstone path? Should I consider breaking up the stones into irregular shapes to better accomodate a curved path? Can I combine the square stones and some broken stones and still achieve a polished/professional look? Can I have larger and irregular gaps in a dry set path, using square stones, so I can achieve the bend in a shorter distance -- and just fill those gaps with sand/crushed-stone? Will it look okay? Thank you for any suggestions.

How good of you to take on this task! Do you have the kids help? (that can be fun too, to run it as an after school activity.) If there are flat rocks in your area, you could collect some (or alternatively keep an eye out on Craigslist for free used bricks) and use them set hozontally along the edge of the paving as deep as seems necessary (sort of widening the paving.) Leave a couple inches of spacing between the rocks and plant between the rocks with plants that can crawl onto them. That way there would be a sort of transition zone of plants that would survive being walked on since the roots would be protected, but also give a bit of warning to the kids that they were off the standard paving. The rocks or bricks will keep the plow from dropping down into the dirt and uprooting the plants and being flat shouldn't pose too much of a problem for the plow (or at least that's my experience since the plow went right over my flat brick edging a few years.) Wooly thyme doesn't seem to flower much in my garden, so might work. Some of the shorter Carex (sedges) may work, especially variegated ones like 'Ice Dance.' Astilbe chinensis 'Pumila' grows low and spreads, but flowers in August and doesn't seem to draw bees. Lady's mantle has such subtle flowers that no one will probably notice them, and has both a larger variety and a smaller one. You could also use some shrubby low groundcovers like Paxistma canbyi (no flowers usually), cranberry (tiny flowers), bearberry (Arctostaphylos) or one of the low growing winter heaths or heathers if your soil is a bit acidic. Many heathers have colorful foliage. Just check the flowering time of your particular cultivar and be sure it is during the summer. The shrubby plants you would have to plant back from the sidewalk far enough that the plow and kids won't mangle the center of growth and so that it won't grow onto the sidewalk. I don't know the salt tolerance of most of these since I don't salt the walk, but I do know that heaths and heathers seem to be pretty salt tolerant. As far as the budget . . . Once you decide on your groundcover, if it is one of the more common ones, you can check with the principal about sending home a request for donations of that type of plant. S/he may be supportive of this.