Stepping stone tricks, plain and fancy

Stepping stones and paths you can make…

7 stepping stone projects you make from scratch or decorate from purchased stones.  From molded concrete to complete cast pathways, from simple and easy to elaborate and practical, these stepping stones will make it easy to get around in the garden. Our Flea Market Gardening experts show how they ‘get around’ in the garden!

Petals are formed from cement in the bottom of a plastic waste basket in Sydney Minor’s stepping stones.  Tricky!  Oil the bottom of the waste basket so you can use it over and over again. These oval ‘stones’ are arranged around a center round stone, purchased at a home store.  Easy!

Jeanne Sammons found the concrete petals at the home improvement store, shaped to make garden edgings,…arranged around common round stepping stones transform them into flowers.

 

 

Ann Elias’s path and stepping stones lead to her aqua-colored garden cottage.

How To Build A Stepping Stone Path

Have you seen those large square molds in the hardware store for making stepping stones and pathways?  Ann Elias and Becky Norris created the best examples of these that we’ve seen.

 Becky’s pathway runs along the curving edge of her flower bed, planted with perennials and annuals. You dig a two to three inch trench or ‘bed’ for your pathway out of the grass or soil so your path will be set down level.

Ann’s husband, Mike is shown below finishing the concrete pathway. Ann says, “We purchased this form from Menard’s and Mike mixes up one bag of cement..then fills the form.” Mike smooths out the top…and then after a very few minutes he lifts off the form.

“It’s really easy to create a great looking pathway,” Ann says, “and sections of this path is over five years old and still holding up fine. We used Quikrete concrete mix.”

 

Question: Did you leave some space between each new molding or just fill in all around with some gravel?

Ann: “No, he did not leave any space. The form does the work for you…just lay it right next to the last one. When you make a sharp curve you will have a space…but then we just made some more on a piece of plastic and when they set up….. we picked them up and filled in the space with those. When it was all done…we did use some small pea gravel in the spaces.”

 

 

Places to place stepping stones

• Along a favorite traffic pattern in your garden
• In front of the hosebib
• Where you need to step through a flower bed
• Where water collects in muddy areas
• As an accent along a plain path
• In your front entry area

 

Easiest stepping stone you can make!

You may find the mold for this stepping stone in your own potting area.

This easy stepping stone,…is made with extra hypertufa and a simple nursery flat… I lined the nursery flat with a dry cleaning bag and filled it with concrete mix.  Wrap the stone in the plastic so it dries slowly and wait 24 hours to unmold. I let this one cure for a few days before setting it into the ground. All the instructions are here:

How to make an easy stepping stone

Becky Norris’s reverse stained glass technique was part of a big patio project she did one year, and is described here:

Becky’s big patio project

 

Cherrie Carine added treasured bits and bobs to her large stepping stone, formed in an iron whiskey barrel ring.  It’s very practical to have such a large stable stone for many places in the garden.

 

Artist, Sue Gerdes, paints purchased stepping stones with craft paint from craft or department stores, then seals them with Quickcrete sealer for long life n the elements.

 You may need:

Getting around in the garden…

Whether you love a curvy garden path winding through your flower beds and evergreens, or prefer the more orderly look of a straight set of stepping stones, you now can express your own creativity and make your own!