My next door neighbor just removed the grass, leveled, put down weed cloth, and put the pavers directly on the weed cloth. He did about half his yard with this method. So far it looks good. Time will tell.

I put down a paving stone pation about 15 years ago at our previous house.I removed the sod,leveled(it's a good idea to put a slope of about 1/4" per foot for drainage) & then put down about 2" of sharp sand.I compacted the sand,then laid the pavers.I used used sharp sand brushed between the pavers to lock everything together.I also just used regular 2x4 as edging boards.They rot out in a couple of years,but everything is settled & locked in place by then.Best of luck

I work at a soil testing lab, and it sounds like your friend was describing soil-cement as a base course for your pavers. To make soil-cement, you'll need about 3 to 5 percent (by weight) of Portland cement powder in your sand and cement blend. You need to mix it in to the top several inches of sand with a tiller; and you'll need to mix while the sand is relatively dry to get the cement powder to blend in evenly. Then moisten the soil well, and till again to blend. Then compact with either a plate compactor (or better yet, a vibratory compactor) and level. Let set for several days to allow the soil-cement to harden. Then lay the pavers.

Thanks Karen. If this is an accepted construction practice (and it sounds like it is) then I think I'll try it... Hauling a few bags of cement sounds better to me than hauling scores of bags of stone dust or fine gravel around, and I won't have to dig any deeper than a sod cutter would cut which is a major plus too.

I have worked with my son who is a professional hard scaper in N.J... The soil is also sandy. For the base we used crush and run ( crushed concrete ) then used a power compactor to level out.

P.S. My Son has done tons of work on Fort Dix and McGuire AF Base