patio

Moss Gathered


See the first part of this patio project here.


After laying another layer of landscape fabric, I spread and raked the bedding sand -the zen part of laying patio stones. For an area this size with irregularly shaped flagstone, there's little use for screeding the sand. That would be appropriate for laying bricks or cut stone with uniform thickness.

My willingness to smooth the bedding sand is extraneous. As soon as I start laying stones I will mess it up with my boots and knees.


Because I needed to match the level of the older paving, I chose to start here, in the absolute lowest corner. You don't want to start somewhere else only hoping to meet level of the lowest spot after hours of laying stone. 


When you are working with stones on hand, fitting the puzzle can be challenging. I tried to refrain from tearing out stones already laid, but it was impossible. Sometimes you must undo what's already been done in order to move forward.


Late in the day I had almost all the stones set, excepting some small internal pieces and the transition to the adjacent, sloped paving. Hosing down the stones allows water to settle the sand.


The next morning I bought additional bedding sand to fill in the gaps, set the smaller stones, and make the transition between the old and new. We also moved the big yellow stone in the back from the front of the house -Mr. Spinks has a thing for stones.


After pouring the additional sand on the laid stones, I swept it about.


Then I set the path stones, which were simply laid onto the soil. The owners want to use the spare stones to separate the garden from the path, something they will do later. Afterward, I hosed the patio down, then took to sweeping it again to remove any excess bedding sand, and once again hosed it down. Job done.


Conceptually, not much different than before, but with an extended patio from the stone seat (with the pot on it) backward and a low, stone retaining wall and step. There's a plumbing project to be done in the lower left corner, after which I may come back to set the stones behind the pot. And an arbor, maybe.






Poor Man's Patio Part 1



The task.

This was it: the big weekend. The weekend that I would straighten out the side yard. First thing to do: find paving for the patio. I went to my corner nursery (so lucky!) J&L ('L' is for Larry, 'J' is ?), because I saw Larry, the owner, there when I was picking up my laundry: I didn't want to miss my only opportunity. I asked him for paving -anything he had, a mismatched motley pile of whatever, and he said he happened to have some leftover slate across the street.

There was some confusion as to whether it was really there, so we went looking and lo and behold -there it was. He lent me a wheelbarrow and I hauled about 10 large pieces to my garden. I also took about 5 smalls for extra stepping stones. He charged me an unbelievably excellent price, which he let me know was for me only, so I can't mention it here. While I picked out the right stones, Larry's son, Colin, talked to me about his father's business troubles. This has been a growing problem over, I would say, the last 2 or three years. His hardscaping work is down to almost zero and the nursery has a major competitor with a parking lot about a mile down the road. Larry's prices are the best in town and I can't imagine the block without the nursery -well, I could and it's not as good. Of course, Lowe's and the Home Depot are kicking his ass price wise -and they also have parking and paint and wood and air conditioners.

But Larry, my local nursery gave me a great deal and lent me his wheelbarrow, telling me to take my time. That's worth a dollar more on bags of soil. Of course, knowing he might close the nursery fueled mighty fantasies of taking over his nursery business. I've long had this fantasy -starting my own nursery, and I nursed it all weekend while working on the side yard. Of course, I have no money, and his business is no car wash -where the money seems to flow like suds over fender.


The slate pile. Mostly gray-blue with a greenish tinge, but one or two brownish ones.


The first thing to do was remove the plants that were in the way of the patio and new path.

I dug up all the Crocus tommasinianus.

I knew I would hit some lily bulbs that I had planted last fall and were still beneath the surface.

The bucket of transplants including dicentra and aconitum.

I re-used the landscape fabric that I had placed under the vegetable boxes last year, laying it out just so after I had done my simple best to level the underlying soil, which is fairly clayey.

Then I went to the hardware store, one block away on CIA, and bought some sand. I should point out that if I had a choice, I would have bought crusher fines as the under course and gap fill. If you can find it, do that, because it is a superior material for dry laying stones. Unfortunately neither my nursery or hardware store has this material, but I think you can get it in the landscape section of the big box home centers or at any masonry or hardscape material business.

The sand placed over the fabric.

Back to the sand, which is a coarse builder's sand, often found in those plastic weave bags with a metal twist tie. I was able to buy this sand at $1.50 for a 40 or 50 lb bag -a remarkable price, and found right on my block. The owner graciously offered a hand truck to cart my 6 bags to the garden. Things were shaping up nicely and I had only spent about 60 bucks.

I laid out the stones as best as I could, trying for maximum gaps of about 1 inch, although there are always irregularities. Leveling the stones is the fun part, working them into the sand to have as little height difference between each adjacent edge. It's okay to have some difference, maybe an 1/8th-inch or so. It's also important that they do not rock or tip when I stand on them, so I checked for this as well. After leveling, I filled the gaps with sand -making sure to push the sand down into the unseen voids. I did not have any edging for the patio, so I used the clay soil, bringing it up to the stones' edge.

The not quite finished patio.

Part 2 later...