From Plain Dirt to Easy Patio

Figure A

The site is an elevated area near the water feature that offers a captivating view of the pond below. He'll be using large, heavy slabs of limestone that are roughly 1-1/2 inches thick. The method he's chosen for installing them is the easiest of all: He's going to simply lay the stones on top of the ground. First, though, he'll have to remove the sod to create a level surface. If he didn't, the stones might settle into the turf and the result would be an uneven patio. Here are the steps:

Figure B

1. Cut the sod. Cutting sod isn't all that hard, but it's tedious. Paul digs to a depth of about 2 inches with a square-edge shovel. This should be enough to remove the grass roots and leave a solid soil base on which to lay the stones.

(For a more formal look — and a lot more work — Paul could have instead cut to a depth of 8 inches, applied a 4-inch layer of sand followed by 4 inches of gravel followed by the limestones.)

After cutting the sod, Paul reserves some of it to use elsewhere in his landscape and shakes soil loose from other pieces of sod for use later in the patio project.

Figure C

2. Survey the land. Before laying the stone, Paul determines the level of the area. There are high and low spots, so he uses a steel garden rake to shift the soil from the high areas to the low areas. Then he tamps down the entire area with a weighted tool specially designed for the task.

Figure D

3. Imagine before moving. It's good practice to gather some hand-picked stones and lay them near the site. Paul tries to imagine which stones will go where. By envisioning how the stones will look before he places them, he'll have to move each only once. Although the process doesn't require a lot of skill, it helps to have a good eye for which stones will look best in a particular location.

Paul starts his work along the front of the patio. He chooses stones whose outer edges roughly follow the contour of the new patio and places them along the edges. Where necessary he moves a bit of soil to ensure the stones are level, then he uses a rubber mallet to tap each stone into place, rechecking the level.

After the front edge is complete, Paul lays the next batch of stones, using smaller stones to fill in odd gaps.

Figure F

4. Finishing touches. Paul uses the soil he previously removed from some sod and uses it to fill in the cracks to about 1/4 inch from the top of the stones. It's a simple process, but one that gives the patio a much more finished look.

Finally, he sows grass seed between the cracks and waters the patio with a fine mist from the hose to get the grass off to a good start.