The Day We Moved a Walkway

When we moved in, Jonathan created a list of short-term projects and long-term projects for us to tackle. We've quickly learned that we don't pay much attention to those labels, as many long-term projects have already been crossed off our list. I guess it just depends on what we feel up to on any given weekend.

The final weekend in June, since we knew that family was coming to visit for the Fourth of July, we were extra motivated to tackle a biggie. Our backyard is a work in progress (it needs a fence, a better patio/deck, landscaping and some overall TLC) but one of the more day-to-day things we've experienced is that the stone walkway that existed did not point the direction we walked. It went from the sidewalk to the side of the garage, rather than leading you to the door.

The Before:

• We started by digging up and piling up all the stones that were in the current path. 
• Next we placed stakes along the path that we imagined building, tying string from stake to stake to create a straight line and a consistent height for us to make the stone path. 
• We dug the path about 4 inches deep and used some of the dirt to fill the holes the stones had left behind.

• We bought 14 bags of rock dust and 7 bags of paver sand (split between two separate trips to the hardware store because we underestimated how much material we would need).
• We placed the stones along the dug up path to figure out how we wanted them to fit together. This is the part that is like a giant puzzle with no instructions.

• Next we removed one section of the path at a time, placing the stones flipped upside down along the side of the path so that we just had to flip them right side up to be where we wanted them. We split our path into about 7 sections.
• Each section used two bags of rock dust with one bag of paver sand on top. In between each step there was some stomping action with a tamper.
• Since the stones varied in thickness, sometimes we had to add more sand or remove it so that the pathway would remain level.
• We repeated this (with many sitting and hydrating breaks in between) until the path was complete. 

• Finally we raked the remaining dirt back onto the path to fill in the gaps.

Not pictured: the sore muscles, scrapes, cuts, bruises and sweat that also made their way into the path.

Our next step will be to fill in the gaps with stepable plants. We will be using Irish moss. None of the nurseries or garden stores around here had any remaining, so we ordered some online (who are we ordering plants online?) This is the general idea:

There you have it: how to make a stone walkway in one day. We watched many This Old House tutorials before starting the project, so go on over to their site to learn more from people who actually know what they're talking about (here and here).