On Wed, 3 Mar 2004 11:30:03 -0500 (EST), "Shiva"
wrote:

It's time to put the walk in the side garden. I've been looking around
at pavers, and I like the look of flagstone. Before I let my local
garden center guy talk me into anything, I'd love some pointers from
those who have done this. I want it to be three feet wide, and probably
60 feet long, and curved. The area gets quite a lot of water as it is
a bit lower than the rest of the property, but I had it tilled and "drilled"
so that it drains quite well. Any tips?


Go he

http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=howT...c=howToLibrary

The important thing is laying a proper foundation. You want the three
layers of foundation if possible.

"A firm foundation is the key to making that beautiful footpath a
lasting addition to your property. A well-made path has three
foundation layers. The bottom layer consists of 4 inches of large
gravel for good drainage. Just above that is a 4-inch layer of pebbles
or small gravel for support. It is then topped off with a layer of
fine sand for the walkway material to rest upon".

I saw a recent show on DIY TV that talked about using 3/4 in. gravel
for the medium layer and rock dust for the top layer. I think they
said that it's even better than sand, mainly because it packs harder
*and* you can use it as a form of "grout". You wash and brush in an
additional amount fo the rock dust into the seams after you lay the
flagstones (you have to do this several times over a couple of weeks
until it doesn't wash away).

Yes, it's a lot of work, but it will keep the flagstones from shifting
over the next few years and they'll stay level.

Of course, you can do what *I've* thought about doing and actually
laying the flagstones a bit apart and letting grass and small low
growing perennials grow in between. Then, you have sort of a "stepping
stone" appearance. I've got books that show this to great effect and
the advange is that you only have to dig out each stone separately
(you *still* want a good foundation, but you don't have to be so
intensive in terms of the foundation. You can simply use a single
layer of "foundation", which you can buy at any home store (there are
several different kinds, so ask your local HD or Lowe's guy which
works best). A 50 lb bag runs less than $2 but you can probably also
buy it in bulk. It tamps down very nicely and is almost as firm as
concrete. I used it to lay my marble garden edgers a couple of years
ago and they are still level. Of course, if any of the flagstones
start to get "unlevel", it's pretty easy to level them individually,
which is another advantage to doing it that way.

Also, in lieu of grass or moss or other plantings, you can leave the
margins in between the flagstones done with gravel (the French do this
a lot with their formal gardens). Lay down some plastic sheeting first
and you won't have a weeding problem.

Hope this helps...