We plan to lay an informal flagstone path on a 1" layer of sand on top of our very compact clay soil. We have been walking on this area for several years and it is fully compacted. We don't have frost heaves; the sand is only to level the stones. We plan to fill in with small plants (e.g. Thyme) and small bark mulch (fines) or possibly small pebbles.

We want to lay some large (2' or so) pieces with smaller pieces in between.

Anyway, when we purchase the flagstone should we select every individual piece, or just purchase a pallet based on the square footage, and then sort and break it into pieces when we get it home? The path will be in our side yard and lead from the patio to the back of our garage, with informal plantings on each side. The side yard has an informal design, so we are not going for "perfection" but don't want to make any costly mistakes.