bit OT: garden path

 hello.

i'm making a garden path - not a big-deal one, more of an access path - by
setting stones (of which we have many) into the dirt. the path has a slight
slope.

however, even though it looks really lovely (when not full of weeds) i have
the practical problem of:
1: progresses very slowly, as the spaces between stones needs to be
hand-filled & all pressed & watered in, otherwise the stones come out. it
takes so bloody long that i'm not getting very far at all
2: some stones coming out _anyway_, despite my best efforts, as the clay
shrinks when the weather's dry, & dirt washes out downhill when it is wet.
3: full of weeds, which wastes my time getting rid of them, & renders the
path irrelevent (as it was just weeds before i put the path in!! ;-)
4: not very safe to walk on for anyone who's not me - (the stones-coming-out
problem). about the last thing i want is some visitor tripping & breaking
their nose

my new plan is this:

dig out all the stones & make an even, shallow trench (perhaps 5-10cm
deep?). then fill in short sections with quick-set concrete, stones at the
ready, & then press the stones to an even depth into the concrete. my
intention is to have the stones set as closely as possible - so i assume
some concrete displacement will occur (?).

i was hoping someone here could offer a few practical tips, as i've never
concreted anything in my life.

do i need to somewhat underfill the trench to allow room for stones, or does
it just magically work out? i really want the stones set as absolutely
closely as i can manage.

is 5-10cm deep enough to last for this application? too shallow? too deep?

does one really need expansion space for heat in summer (like concrete
footpaths have), for such a thin bit of concrete? if so, i'm not sure how i
would do that(???) at it's widest point, it's only 70cm wide or so.

the stones i use are anywhere from 3cm to 20cm in diameter. they all seem to
have at least one flattish side, which goes upwards. the undersides aren't
necessarily flat, of course. is any sort of cleaning or preparation
necessary, or will they just stick where they are put?

thank you VERY MUCH for any forthcoming tips. i don't really want to get
started as cluelessly as this post sounds <g>, but clearly, filling between
stones somehow is the only way forward, as what i've been doing so far just
isn't going to work out. however, breaking it all up & starting again, if i
stuff it up, is not a desirable idea, either. :-)

ta!
kylie

 
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I'm no expert on this, but I'm pretty sure you can't use quickset for
this type of job.
AFAIK, it's not flexible enough to use for this type of job  - large
surface area, relatively thin depth.
Hopefully others will post with more information than I've got :)

 0tterbot wrote:


When you mix stones with anything, you can have problems from the
different rate of expansions.


Sounds like you need to address this problem first or in the design


That is going to happen if there is soil involved or places where soil
can collect. Either you have to spray the weeds out, or repeatedly
heavily whipper snipper them, or even just mow them very low.

I've just recovered a path of bricks from under a thick layer of grass
by very low mowing.




10cm = 4" which should be okay for a path for only people. The trick
AFAIK is to use the stones as the gravel in the concrete mix. Then at a
certain stage of drying you brush or hose the surface off to expose the
stones.


It is the length, not the thickness that it expands along. My 2c is that
it is a good idea. You can lay your path in sections as time and effort
allows with an expansion stuff between them.



3cm seems large for gravel in a concrete path, but would work.

20cm, if you have them that size, why not just go for the stepping stone
approach and just mow over what ever comes up between them. At that
size,I can see them popping out of the concrete over time.

If you go for the stepping stone approach and one pops up a bit, you
just lift it, scratch a bit of soil out from under neath and drop it
back into place, then jump on it.


AFAIK, it is a question of how stable your ground underneath is. If you
are on clay soils that wet and heave, then your are going to have stones
lifted.

My 2c is that any path is a question of maintenance. a concrete slab
requires the least, but it is so sterile. Anything else requires regular
  maintenance.

 G'day Kylie

While I'm far from expert in stone paths I have just completed a small
(600 x 600mm) one and was advised not to use quick set as it would go
off too quickly.  Instead I bought sand and cement mix and found that it
allowed more time to place the stones individually.  These were 10-15mm
tumbled pebbles I bought from Bunnings because I didn't want plain,
boring concrete.  The finished job looks OK and even though I used a
stiff brush to clean the top of the pebbles before the cement was fully
set, I still needed to clean them with Hydrochloric Acid at the weekend.

As an underlay I used crushed concrete and also used this on some steps
I cut into a sloping area to give access to the new vegie garden.  I
found that when I watered it lightly, then trowelled over the top, it
makes a cement slurry and then sets quite firm.  Wondering if this would
work between your stones?

Bronwyn ;-)


0tterbot wrote:

 I am also not an expert by any means, but what about treating the project
like a mosaic or tiling project?

in that, I mean set up a framework for the sides (level of course)

dig out between frame to desired depth (or do this before setting up frame)

using a level as a guide (you can lay it across the frame and move it along
as you work) place stones within frame, using concrete to hold stones in
place...the stones of different depths would require different amounts of
concrete in order to bring them to the same level as frame edge

let concrete set

fill in gaps with a cement mortar type mix, and smooth out with wet
broom/sponge/whatever, then clean off stones