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natalie_martin75

Walkway ideas & help

3 years ago

We closed and moved into the house in July last year. The previous owner spent alot of money on the stone landscaping but didn't put any type of landscaping fabric or barrier underneath so now weeds are constantly coming up. Spraying them has been difficult bc I think the rocks are preventing the spray from getting down to the roots. He also didn't put any edging between where the rocks and the grass meet. Then there's the walkway. It looks awful. Any ideas on what to do to make it look better? Normally it wouldn't be that difficult but if you look to the left, you can see where it slopes down and I'm at a loss. Should we remove all of the rocks and lay landscaping fabric and put in edging? And what can we do to make the walkway look nicer?

Comments (6)

  • 3 years ago

    Please tell us where you're located (nearest big city & state). Thanks! In some climates stone mulch works well; in other climates it doesn't stop weeds and makes garden clean up more difficult.

  • 3 years ago

    Syracuse, NY

  • 3 years ago

    Oh gosh, how do you shovel that sidewalk? If a poured concrete sidewalk is within your budget, that would be my first choice. The landscape rocks aren't good in your area and adding landscape fabric would make the situation worse (after a couple of seasons weeds will begin to grow through the fabric and it's impossible to get them out). A band of stone a couple of feet wide around your foundation is great with mulch further out around the plants. You'll need edging to contain the mulch. Good luck!

  • 3 years ago

    It sounds like you want to reuse everything and just make it better. You have unlimited options if you want to go another direction, so I'll stick to advice on cleaning it up.

    - Fabric: Do not put landscape fabric under the rocks. First, weeds, and especially grass in your area (look up rhizomes) actually will "interweave" with the fabric, making it impossible to remove anything without tearing holes in the fabric. Trying to avoid that by breaking or cutting "shoots" just below the rock, you'll see doesn't pay off 2 weeks later. And any attempt at scorched earth prior to laying fabric, even if successful, doesn't matter because there is constant debris (seeds, dirt, etc) landing and collecting in your landscape beds, so over time weeds will take root above the fabric. Second, if you have a slope with a shallow depth stone on top of fabric you can get sliding (though yours looks minimal).

    So what to do with rocks? As the reason why cecily was asking, rocks are better in some regions at being less maintenance (regardless of fabric). You will have to keep at maintenance In NY to keep it looking fresh.

    - Stepping stones: They could be laid better. Get your garden hose and place on the ground in a long sweeping curve, on the outside arc. Place the steppers against the hose so they align with the arc. Make the spaces between them a consistent dimension at the outside arc (make sure you account for a slimming of the space on the inside of the arc). The space should be based on the size of rock and steppers, I'd guess 4"-6" works with your proportion. Then, it would look better if the edge rock distance to grass was the same, or close in dimension to the spaces between the steppers. Finally, a small detail but place the solar lights uniformly (say, the center of each stepper, or at the spaces). Verify if only one side with lights is enough to light the whole width.

    - Edger: These are your choice among many types, all based on aesthetics and function. If I were choosing, based on the level of house, the choice of rocks and stepping stones, and the shape of beds, I would probably use these. Curvable, same vocabulary as the steppers, easiest functionally for mowing, can be installed with a garden trowel and level.



    - Prior to doing any of this you may want to address the location and type of existing or new plantings, and work the footprint of the landscape beds to form with the size of those and the shape of your house footprint.

  • 3 years ago

    @Natalie Martin I like the suggestions from @3onthetree and I agree with @cecily It depends on how much you plan to renovate your home and spend. If you prefer the route suggested by @3onthetree just know it will be a challenge. There's no way I would want those rocks, any of them. I would remove them as fast as possible, including the ones around the foundation. My knuckles already hurt thinking about weeding around them. I have to deal with them at work and it's a constant battle and it never looks nice.


    If you want to have a concrete walkway but reduce costs, reroute it so it is more direct from the driveway to the front door. It will be a shorter distance. Plan for at least a 5' wide walk, even if you can't afford that now. You can always widen one. You might be able to use those pavers instead for now, then install a walkway when you can afford it.


    Not sure if you could pick up all the rocks, according to size and put them on a tarp and let the weather wash them then sell on ebay. That could be a stupid idea but better than the landfill.


    You have to do what you want and not worry about we hat I would want or anyone else. I assume you just want to get ideas here. So really if it was me and I was short of cash from just buying the house, I would remove all the rocks, use the pavers only as a walk, and plan for the day I could add a cover to the front entry and a heated patio that wouldn't have to be shoveled.

    If we could have a conversation, we could give better advice, because we could better know your reaction. I hope some of these ideas are useful to you.

  • 3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Can you tilt up a stone? Then fill in and level out the square impressions left with the gravel rock. The path will now be a raised berm with the stones sitting on top of it.

    Let the grass grow between the stones. Assume the stone is 2" thick, so the mower will leave 2" of grass between the stones as you mow the lawn for a nice look.