laying a stepping stone path in a lawn

[r.p.mcmurphy]

hi all, i am looking for advice in how to lay a stepping stone type path way for my garden. i am hoping to use reclaimed yorkstones or similar and to have them at a level of the base other the grass so i can drive my mower over them whilst cutting the grass. i have a pal who has a wacker plate and i was thinking of just running the plate over the area i am going to path and removing the turf to match the stones shape and dropping the stone in. is this ok...or is it gonna be a lot more work?

Steve

[The Natural Philosopher]

Depends on what yuour soil is like. The 'pukka' job would involve going down deeper and making up a bed of sharp sand with maybe 10% ecment thrown in to stop it washing away. This ensures the load is spread evenly over the soil. You can make oversize holes and tamp down to frgrass level wioth a rubber mallet, and then fill around the edges with scrap turf.

In very unstable soil a real substrate of hardcore or crushed limestine will make a base you can drive a truck over.

I'm on clay here, and simply laying slabs was OK for a while, but ultimately they ended up sagging and crooked. So I went overkill last year with deep substrates and sand. It's a bit of a decision as to how much your soil will compact, and how long you want the things there.

[r.p.mcmurphy]

i have dug down about 2 foot for footings for the new garage and the sides didn't cave in or crumble, i think i have a clay type soil therefore. i have a compactor plate so if i run that over the lawn and make sure its well compacted...is it more likely to be ok? the only fiddly bit will be cutting out the turf to the right depth all over before laying the stone.

Steve

[Sue]

In message , r.p.mcmurphy writes

The soil doesn't compact, what's happening (as demonstrated by Charles Darwin well over a century ago) is that earthworms are slowly but surely moving the soil (or sand, or limestone - they like limestone) from underneath your slabs to on top of them. Go with the flow - every so often, lift them and level them with some more sand.

The compacted lawn won't grow very well. Plants like their soil pretty much as spongy as possible, so that water can drain away and air can reach the roots. Compacted clay is a good base for a pond or puddle though.

[Bob Eager]

In fact, you can go to his old house and see it still happening, with the same stone (known as...the Wormstone!)

[Rick]

Wot I did for me mum, was to cut out the turf arround the stone, level the hole with sand, and put in the stone, so the mower can run over the top.

One of the sank, so we lifted it, put in more sand, and put it down again.

Now I could have made a concrete base for them all, but if she wants to get rid of them in future, which is likley, it would be a big job, and putting extra sand in once a year makes me dad feel usefull.

Rick