I just made a path out of field stone this past summer. It's not the most smooth thing ever, but it looks great in my opinion. I got all my rocks from rock piles in a farm field. You have to do some digging, but it's amazing how many rocks have a flat side. Some of the rocks I dug up were pretty big with only a moderately sized flat side, so I just buried the rest of the rock. I didn't split any rocks. Here's a link to pictures of my path if you're interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fieldstone path

Jugglerguy, I Love It! And I also have access to field/beach rocks, so would I have to put plastic or canvas down first to keep the weeds out?

Jugglerguy, your path has inspired me. I am on my way out to the family farm to visit my mother and then start my rock path "collection" today. After 3 years of trying to decide what I wanted I finally found the answer for my garden beds and totally within my budget.

Rockee, I have to admit I have no idea what I'm doing. There is natural sand under the rocks. I put a little bit of topsoil between them, but only about an inch thick. I'm hoping I can get moss to grow there. I didn't put down plastic, but that would have been very difficult since the rocks vary in size so much. It was easy to do the way I did it. I'm anxious to see what happens when the frost comes out of the ground. I hope everything stays put!

-Rob

That looks great!! I may have to attempt that myself, except my dirt is like cement. Next years project maybe.

Hey Jugglerguy,

I like it! I've got tons 'n tons of rock but was being real fussy looking for flat rocks about the same thickness...so I really like your idea ... and it looks great.
Probably what you did wasn't much different than what the Romans did with cobblestone roads (but I never studied that).
I would think you might get a bit of shift (call it character) with freeze 'n thaw, but no more or less than would be the case with flat stone, flagstone and/or other pavers.
I'm thinking for my path I just might take a few runs with the tiller to make the digging in easier.

Two winters down, and no noticable shift. Then again, it's not the most level path in the first place, so I might not notice if they did shift!

I love your path. I have lots of field stone. Is your path slippery? And knowing what you know now, any hints to make the job easier? Did you layout the rocks first?

Your path is beautiful. You given me inspirtation to
create my own rock path. well done!

Maggie, my path isn't slippery. I don't walk on it in the rain much, but I don't think it's too slippery then either. The moss hasn't grown over the rocks yet either. If that happens, it might get slippery, but I don't think it will grow on the rocks. I walk on the path too much!

As for making the job easier, I wouldn't do too much different. I could only haul a few rocks (5-10) at a time in my Jeep at a time. The pile was about twenty minutes (one way) from my house. Therefore, I tended to get a load or two and then place them. In some ways it would be better to have a larger selection to work with. On the other hand, sometimes I needed a rock of a certain shape, so I'd look for the right rock on the next trip.

Good luck with your paths!

Rob

Rob - That path is fabulous. I just have to show DH this. I would love something similar and we have lots of rocks like this around here.

Wow, great path! LOL on the surprise awaiting a future owner of your place who decides to move the path! :D

I want to do a small path. In my area we have a gazillion creekbeds full of rocks that are flattish and often similar thickness -- 2" to 4", in general -- so I went out and scavenged a bunch today. I'm a little nervous, though. I keep feeling there should be something I should do to make sure this works out. But I guess it's not brain surgery. If one of the stones is sticking up too far, I guess I can just pull it out and adjust the depth of the hole.

I'm so glad I saw your path before I started to place the rocks, as I would have forgotten that a not-straight path is much more interesting than a perfectly straight one! Your lovely meandering path reminded me to keep that in mind!

Val

Jugglerguy
I love your path. I have been thinking about digging in some stepping stones in our backyard garden. We laid a flagstone patio the other weekend, but the slope away from the patio prevents just laying down stepping stones, and I don't want to build a complete set of steps. Does anyone have any experience putting in fieldstone like Jugglerguy, but as individual stepping stones?

Just to follow up in case anyone else needs to put in just a couple of steps. I ended up sinking a cinderblock into the ground on a bed of packed and leveled gravel. once that was buried to the right height (about 6 inches or so for one step and almost 7 for the other) I packed the removed dirt back into the cinder block and around it then Gorilla glued flagstone to the top. It made for a very stable step that was made from the same flagstone as the patio. The path is mulched, so I just packed mulch in under the overhang, and you can't even tell that there is a cinderblock under it now. For the rest of the path I used 4-5" thick siloam stone that is resting on the weed fabric with mulch all around. Seems to work well, though a couple of them were still rocking a little bit, but with a little pounding, that goes away. The first two steps away from the patio are the ones on cinder block...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:285819}}

Jugglerguy-
How's the stone path holding up? Did the moss ever grow around the stones? Our field stone path is in full sun so I don't believe moss will grow in between the stones. Do you or does anyone have any other ideas for in between the stone to stop weeds? We tried planting short sedum, but it just looks bad after about 2 years and it just spreads itself everywhere else also. I've tried mulch (it seems to disappear or gather in some spaces but not in others), we've tried stone dust, but weeds grow right through it. The thyme idea sounds good, has anybody else tried that and does it look good a year or two down the line? Will it grow in full sun? Can it be walked on and still look nice and does it keep out the weeds? Any other ideas? This year we pulled all of the sedum out and there is just sort of bad, sandy dirt in between. I am pulling weeds almost everyday and it is a drag. Help! Do you think shells collected from a trip to a Florida beach be weird? How about shards of colored glass? (Like sea glass). Help.

Hi Nancy. The path has held up well and I've added a lot more to it. The moss has filled in well in some places, but there are other spots that are bare. In the sunny part of the path I used elfin thyme and on the steps I used wooly thyme. They've both done really well. The elfin thyme is very short, but it does grow over the rocks somewhat. I ordered it from Bluestone Perennials. The plants were very small but healthy and I was able to use a knife to slice each plant into fourths. I've since divided them more.

{{gwi:285820}}

Here is a link that might be useful: More Pictures