Do I set walkway in mortar?

18 years ago

HI,

We just got finished laying a stone patio area & walkway, we used these irregular shaped pavers for the walkway. We layed a layer of gravel,sand then pavers. Due to the irregular shape of the pavers there are gaps inbetween them, which we came back and filled in with more sand. I am fine with this arrangement however my father-in -law insists that we need to come back & fill in the gaps with some sort of mortar to help "set the pavers" and keep grass at bay. I would perfer to not do this.

My questions are-

Will the sand alone keep the grass from growing?

Would something else besides sand or mortar work? Something that could be moved if required? Some sort of ground cover maybe?

We are in South Louisiana if that helps any.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

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Comments (3)

bullthistle
18 years ago
Grass or weeds will still grow between the cracks with sand but mortar will not help much because some weeds grow on very little soil. You may want to check out creeping low growing perennials that may fill in the areas between the cracks and keep things from shifting. Perennials.com is a good place to start. I am not in your zone so I won't dare recommend anything.

Here is a link that might be useful: Propagating Perennials
ltecato
18 years ago
Shanon, I'm nowhere near an expert on this subject, but the procedure you describe sounds exactly like what I've seen done on "Garden Police" and "Gardening by the Yard." I don't think the mortar is mandatory, by any means. Matter of fact, I'd worry about it cracking and looking ugly.
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davisgard
18 years ago
I've done similar projects, and I find that decomposed granite works better than sand--it packs down more, so it doesn't track over the flagstone (and into the house) and it attracts fewer weeds. Some people have been using polymeric sand, but I haven't tried that. Either one could easily be removed.

I tried blue star creeper in between my flagstone, but didn't have luck with it. That may depend on your weather. Where I am in California, we have dry hot summers (100+ degrees) and I think the stones got too hot for the blue star creeper. But it may work for you (thyme is also popular in between flagstones).