Stepping stones are a great way of personalizing and adorning a garden, but they have practical uses too: they keep your feet, and ultimately your floor coverings clean. Having a path to walk on in your yard will prevent people from stepping in mud or turf, which will ultimately keep your carpets and house clean. Furthermore they help to keep your yard healthy: by positioning these stones where your lawn has the most traffic, you ensure it from turning into bare dirt. Position them where you walk from the drive way to the door, where the dogs like to run up and down the yard and where your kids tend to play the most. This will prevent you from struggling to grow grass in a high traffic zone and may save you time and money. Do you have a focal point in your backyard, like a sculpture or water feature, that you always have to tell people about before they notice it? Well, by installing stepping stones, you lead the way; people have a tendency to follow these stones, and what better way of displaying your new feature by having them discover it themselves.
Installing paving tones in your garden is ideal as a DIY project. It's very simple to do, so no more nagging the hubby. Whether or not you want to install the stones for decorating purposes or for keeping people off your lawn, doing it correctly will save you a lot of time, effort and money, because these stones will last you a very long time.
Before you start, you need to know what you want to achieve: what style of stone do you want; what shade and texture; is there a theme you want to follow. After you have chosen the colour, style, texture and design of your stones, you can begin with the fun part, shopping! You can go to you nearest home improvement centre and choose from natural stones made from limestone, quartzite, slate or flagstone. Or you can purchase pre-made, plain or patterned design. If you can't find exactly what you are looking for, you can buy the necessary materials and moulds and make your own design based on what you want.
Planning and preparation: this is the key to installing your stepping stones properly. You have to look at the size of the stone, they shouldn't be too big, and neither should they be too small. You have to think about how far they should be spread out to accommodate your stride: there is nothing more frustrating than being forced to tip-toe from stone to stone. And you need to think about how they are set so they won't sink in or break up as time passes.
Before you begin installing your stones, you need to determined your working area. Where will the stones be set, how far apart and what pattern do they have to follow. Mark these sites so that you will not get confused throughout the project. After marking the area, you can start laying the stones down. You need to take away the grass and dirt where the stone will be laid to level out the surface. Put the stone down exactly where you want it set, remove the form of the stone into the ground and then remove the grass and level the ground. This may ensure that the stones will stay put and won't break over time.
So, as you can see, installing stepping stones is an simple and easy , fulfilling task that almost anyone will be able to accomplish hassle-free.
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