Make a Stone Garden Path

Did you ever start a project and a few hours in think, OK, am I crazy? I have! More than once if I’m being honest.

Some of you that attend regular cooking classes know that my husband Mark, goes salmon fishing in Alaska most summers. Last year, I had the idea that while he was gone I would create a flower mosaic path as a “surprise.” The word surprise really means that I knew he would not want me to do this project and would complain if he had to help me.

Guess where I got this bright idea? If you said Pinterest, you were right!

I was surfing around looking at fun garden projects and I got the wild idea that I could create this 16-20 foot path in the upper back yard that would be filled with stepping stones and cute floral mosaics.

I started by gathering stones in different colors and hauling them to the upper yard along with bags of concrete. This alone was a big enough job but the work had just begun.

Next, I marked where the path would go with spray paint and I got the shovel. The first big step would be digging down 5-6 inches and removing the grass. It’s important that the earth be fairly level at this point. To say that I was sweating would be an understatement.

I created flowers from the rock in various sizes and colors. I formed lots of rock flowers before getting started with the concrete so I could move pretty fast.

Next, working in small areas of 4-5 feet, I filled the path with dry quick mix concrete. The dry concrete let me place the larger stepping stones and the smaller floral motif where I wanted them before carefully adding water to the concrete. Once you start spreading the concrete mix, rain would be a disaster.

You can see that Pierre was offering great moral support!

I had the first 3-4 feet placed!

And a few more feet.

And finally, I was done! For this type of concrete, it must harden slowly so it will be strong. I took large plastic bags and cut them open and placed them over the path. More stones were used to hold the plastic in place overnight to slow the drying process.

This is the way the finished path looks. What do you think? Are you ready to start a garden path of your own?

What about sharing projects that once you started you thought “I’m crazy!” Can’t wait to hear from you!

XO Lorie