About Flagstone Paths

Soften your landscape with stone. A flagstone path curving to a gazebo or winding to flower garden is a natural pied piper, enticing visitors to various focal points of your property. With material readily available, little equipment needed, and stone to fit virtually any taste and budget. A flagstone path is one of the quickest ways to dress up your home.

Function

A well-constructed flagstone pathway does much more than just go from here to there. It becomes an attractive and durable accessory to your home. These natural lanes invite travel to your yard's highlights---a wildflower garden, a pumpkin patch, a water feature---and can turn a worn corridor of grass from a blemish to a red carpet. Feeling creative? The options for path designs are virtually endless; you can make an arrow-straight avenue or a curvy figure-eight, and being nearly impervious to the elements, your flagstone path will retain its classic good looks for years. Installing these life-size, linear puzzles can be an enjoyable do-it-yourself weekend project, and will add the final touch to a home's outdoor environs.

Effects

In addition to being a pathway, a flagstone path helps with the visual transition to the natural surroundings of a home. Built with locally quarried granite, a flagstone trail complements a wooded lot. Flags of limestone might lead the winding way past a shade garden ringed with similar stone. A path of polished, smooth flagstone delivers guests to a formal courtyard. From vintage farmhouses to stately manors, flagstone trails bring out the best of a home's unique character.

Time Frame

The time involved to complete a flagstone path can be as little as a single long day for a short path, or a full week for more elaborate designs. Flagstone is quick to install, and with proper planning (and a willing partner), you will be walking your new path in short order. Planning is important. Preparations before setting the stone include laying out the path's course, readying the soil with removal of sod and adding gravel, if needed.

Types

Flagstone has many different faces, in shades of browns and burnt tans, midnight black and chalk white, reds and sunset orange. Some come with a high pedigree, forged from elegant granite that sparkles for attention. Other stone is rougher around the edges, more blue jeans than tuxedo. Some stones are simple, smooth squares, others are like an island's convoluted coastline, with a surface like a topography map come to life. Some limestone and slate is thin and sleek, while some granites come with considerable girth and heft. With so many choices, finding the perfect flagstone is like picking out paint colors.

Considerations

Plan for the size of the job. While even a longer path can be completed fairly quickly, more complex designs with larger (and heavier) stone take several days and likely the use of heavier equipment to move and place the stone.
Spend some time researching stone native to your area. It will give you that looks-like-it's-always-been-there result, and you do your part by supporting local sources.
Keep in mind the type of stone you will use when starting the project. Those big chunks are heavy; enlist the help of a partner.
Know your dirt. Soil type has a strong influence on the project's success. Gooey clay soil is difficult to work with, requiring a lot of effort, while sandy soil is a breeze for digging, but must be amended with gravel or more pliable fill to support the stone.
Is there sod to remove? This is another chore that takes some effort and extra time. Prepare for lots of shoveling, or rent a sod remover for quicker results.
Plan in advance for any edging along your path. A walkway through a lawn might simply be trimmed along its borders. A more formal path will look sharp if it is edged with bricks set horizontally or small field stones.

Expert Insight

A layer of small, landscape gravel might be needed with some soil types. For paths with a large surface area, consider renting a gravel tamper to ensure a final layer of 3 to 4 inches. Also, plan the depth of the path to allow for the gravel layer, and the bed layer of sand (3 to 4 inches). In some cases, stone is set into a thin substrate of cement, while other situations are adequately addressed with sand between the stones, which hardens over time and holds the stone solidly in place.