My kinda guy... Take simple things and make them more work than they should have been. And here I thought I was the only one on the face of the planet...a condition of sorts for which medical science has no cure...

Nice path, though.

Bravo, nicely done.

Nice path!

That is really stunning! I am in the middle of making a pond with a big waterfall and have used 3 truckloads of rocks so far, so I KNOW moving those things were tough work!
That path will outlast the house. :-)

KUDOS!

Davena

Your path sure was a lot of work but it is beautiful and will be there a long - long time! Nice job!!!!!!

Love your path. Great shape and added real character to your garden.

Now enjoy it!!!!

Cheers, Jando

Jugglerguy-
Awesome job!! We just finished a stone wall with similar rocks and would like to make a path as well. Did you cut in the width of your path then choose rocks to fit that width? How do I begin? Thanks for the help - really well done!

Tracey

Well, pond is finished working on the path now. Look what you've gone and done Jugglerguy!

Davena

Very nice path! I don't think I have the energy you have, but then again... the results are awesome. Be proud.

Tracey,

I must admit I had no idea what I was doing so I'm not sure that my path will hold up to frost and traffic. I just started by digging a hole for the first rock and kept adding on with each load of rocks I got. It would probably be easier to get more rocks before starting so that you'd have more shapes and sizes to choose from. I took a few weeks to do the project, just doing a little here and a little there, so I didn't want a bunch of rocks sitting around. I got a variety of sizes each time I picked up a load. I'd dig up a few feet at the end of the path and let the shape meander with the rocks I had to choose from. Some of the rocks were quite big as you could see in the pictures. It's important to get rocks that have sides that don't bulge out too much, otherwise it's difficult to place them close together. If you do happen to have a side that bulges out, just put it to the outside of the path and it won't matter.

By the way, thanks to everyone for the compliments!

-Rob

Wow! Your path is AWESOME! You did a really good job - very nice work!

Alexis :-)

Great path, it really makes someone want to go down it....Great idea with the board and roleing the rocks, I will use that tomorrow when I go rock hunting.

Wasn't that just about the most fun you ever had doing heavy sweaty work? Beautiful path. I just got a pick-up truck load of flat stones to widen the path I put in about 6 years ago that is too narrow. When the m-i-l asked dh why I wanted more rocks (as in is she nuts!?) he told her I don't ask, she promised lunch if I went with her to get rocks. Isn't he sweet? You really must have worked hard to get those stones level. It is a pain to get ones that are flat on both sides set right. What did you do with all the dirt you dug out?

The topsoil I dug out was just thrown in the garden next to the path. I'm going to plant a bunch of astilbes there. The sand underneath the topsoil just got thrown in the woods behind my house.

Getting the rocks level wasn't really that bad. I just dug holes that were much different depths!

Beautiful work, Jugglerguy! I just may have to try that myself sometime - when I can find the enthusiasm. At this point in the summer, I'm looking forward to snow falling so I can stay indoors.

Great - love the rock path. Much more interesting than round cement stepping stones.
Binini

Beautiful path! I have a couple paths I've put around my house, also an oval entrance of stones to my new gardening shed. I used sand to level them and get them to lay solid. My one path that only gets about 1 hour of sun a day grew the moss. I think that's the key to having moss grow on them. I collect round mill stones and have 2 of them in one of my paths and it looks neat!!!!!

Love your path....Can I borrow you for a job in Louisiana? :) Dee

BEAUTIFUL!!

Have to jump in and say how much I like that path and also say that I wish I had a stronger back-would love to do something like that!

This is Inspiring and encouraging for some of us to take up a project like this... Great work. Enjoy!!

I love your pictures and am trying to do something similar, but I'm using taconite (I live in NE MN ). My question to you is, did you dig up the entire path and then lay the stones down, or did you dig a hole for each stone? People think I'm a little crazy because it doesn't look like the nice, flat stone walk that is so typical everywhere. I wanted something that looked like an old English garden, or an Irish country cottage....a little uneven and completely natural. So I was delighted to see your pictures as that is exactly what I'm striving for, though I'm not exactly sure I know what I'm doing!! How did you do yours?? Thanks for any tips!

Hi zaclyasitshoulbe,

I don't really know what I'm doing either. I just faked my way through this. The path took me a month or more to complete, because I had to drive 15 or 20 minutes to get rocks and I could only get a few in my Jeep at a time. I also spent lots of time searching for rocks with a fairly large flat side. I just built another path like that one this weekend, but it's only about 5 feet long.

To answer your question, since I took so long to do the project, I just dug up a few feet at a time rather than the whole path. I did need to dig up more than the area for just one rock because most of them bump up against each other under ground. I think it shows up in some of my pictures. I have pure sand under all of my yard, so I dug off the topsoil and placed the rocks in the sand underneath. If you have a different kind of soil, you might need to do something underneath for drainage. Mine made it through the first winter (Northern Lower Michigan) without any frost heaving so I guess what I did was ok. I put a link to a picture of my new path in case you wanted to see it, but the first one is a little more impressive.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stone path to faucet

Hi Jugglerguy, sad to say that the link to your photos of the amazing path is broken. Any chance you could restore it?
Dinah

yeah, everybody said "auw" and "auhh", but I couldn't get the image opened. So I have no clue what so ever how the site really looks like. Please reattach the image so I can join the "Auw" and "Auhh":))
SPO

Sorry about that. Here's the new and improved link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Pictures

Jugglerguy, I really like that path. I have looked at your photos several times and I think I might give it a try next summer. I have access to stones similar to what you used, ie. a little rounded. I was wondering if you had problems with them being slick during the winter?

Jugglerguy--I just have to tell you that I saw this post last winter and was so impressed and knew it was exactly the right type of pathway for my garden. So last spring I headed to the family farm and gathered creek rock--LOTS of creek rock. Nothing as large as your stones but all were hand picked and packed out. I am so happy with the way it turned out and you were the inspiration. DD posted pictures this August (creek rock walkway). I also transplanted moss between my stones which I hope will continue to grow. It's in my shade bed and I water regularly so I'm hopeful.

Wynona,

I don't know if they're slick during the winter because I don't have a reason to go to that part of the yard during the winter. They're not particularly slippery when they're wet during the summer. If there was snow on them, I would think it would be about as slippery as the snow is anywhere else.

-Rob

Beautiful path and gardens. Inspires me to use up all the flagstone spread out around here.