Remember these?
These are the stepping stones my kind neighbors gave to me so they could replace them with a flagstone pathway.
I like these stepping stones. However, they’re quite heavy and were all originally placed in my front yard when I decided the majority of them needed to go in the back.
So….I made a simple plan to move two at a time to the backyard, and to install at least four per day.–By “install” I mean digging out the soil to level them and making sure they were set an equal distance apart heading in the right direction.
The photo above is at the start of the path. If you look at the ground to the left, you can see the little red wagon used to transport two stepping stones at a time. The plants in the foreground are Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, which have small red flowers that are loved by the hummingbirds, Virginia Creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, is climbing the tree, and there’s a cast iron plant, Aspidistra elatior, to the right of the arbor.
Above: Here’s the new path from the arbor down to the new planting area. (Yes, the photo shows I need to mow and I did, after taking this photo.) Anyway, I’m certain I’ll need to re-level or move a few of the stones at some point, but in general, I’m pleased with how they look. I used 18 stones altogether.
Above: The view looking back toward the house. The ultimate plan is to plant bulbs and wildflowers to either side of the stepping stones.–The Tyler, Texas fall bulb sale sponsored by the Smith County Master Gardeners may be just the ticket for purchasing bulbs. I’d also like to put some large river rocks between the stepping stones, but that may not happen any time soon especially since I can’t seem to find any locally.
The path’s destination is this bench. Looks a bit lonely doesn’t it? Hmmm…Maybe it needs a large pot to either side or maybe that’s too much or maybe the tray above the bench is too tiny?…I’ll figure it out.
Life doesn’t just revolve around MY garden. What kinds of paths do you have in YOUR garden? What garden projects are you working on?
The Hairy Toe Gardener 
Those stepping stones have worked out well and the path makes a nice feature through the arbor. It is always good when you can easily find your way through a garden. We have stepping stones in our front garden. The main path is slate and there is a side path with granite river stones. The front garden is in a bit of a mess and needs some TLC. The paths can get covered with leaves from the deciduous trees and the blackbirds making a mess. All the oxalis has grown back. It is a horrible weed that is really difficult to get rid of. Whoever introduced this to Australia must have been insane.
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I hope when your garden paths are “photo ready” (read:no leaves) you will take pictures of them for your blog. I would love to have slate or granite river stones for a garden path, but both are expensive and difficult to come by in east Texas.–I don’t know why they’re had to get here. I have oxalis also, but mine isn’t a pest yet. We’ll see…As always, I appreciate your comments.
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Wow, your garden is beautiful! I especially like the gateway 🙂
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Thank you. I’m working hard on it.
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You have such an interesting backyard! Is that arbor new? The wood looks new. Maybe I missed a blog post about it. Anyway, that path is great. You have nice neighbors!
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Ya, the arbor is new. The gate on it is old though.–I need to strip and repaint. It’s on my to-do list.
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Your arbour with the iron gate looks lovely. It is a great introduction to your garden, and your new path.
I recently put in a small paver pathway into one of my garden beds. After fussing around trying to dig out roots and level the first stone, I decided to just place the pavers, and fill in with a bag of soil between and around them. Fortunately it was a short path and I didn’t need much soil.
It has been fun (and inspiring) following the journey of your new garden.
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I would love to see a photos of your pathway and garden.
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Looks very fine
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