Hi Brian,

Last week I attended a free class on installing pavers at the Mira Mesa Home Depot. The guy said that because the ground doesn't freeze in San Diego you can skip the layer of gravel, dig down about 4 inches and put a 2 inch layer of sand, then the flagstone or pavers. For the sand use decomposed granite. The grain size is a little larger than play sand and once it settles will lock tight keeping the flagstone from sliding during a rainstorm. Home Depot sells flexible hard plastic edging in 10' lengths that you lay down and stake to the ground. It's cheap,easy and about $1. per length. The hardest part of the job is carrying the flagstone.