Do it Yourself Landscaping Designs for Slate Walkways

If you are someone who loves to take an old section of dirt or grass and turn it into a beautiful piece of art, you can easily turn any high-traffic area of your yard into a lovely walkway, using all types of rock. Slate is particularly good for walkways and patios because it is a flat-broad rock.

Slate is a volcanic rock and comes in a variety of colors, from light to dark gray and even purple or green. Slate can be used to beautify your yard in several ways. It can create a natural look around ponds, or waterfalls. You can place slate around plant beds for a rustic sculpted finish. Slate shingles are common roofing material for houses in some countries.

If you have a piece of lawn area that seems to be turning into a pathway, simply mark off the area where you want to lay your stones. You can do this with string and stakes, or lay a piece of rope or hose on either side of where you want to walk. Once you see your pathway, then begin removing grass from between the marked area. If you want to keep it rustic, with grass between the slate rocks, you can leave gaps between the slate and sew grass seed in the soil surrounding the rocks.

Once you have taken the layer of grass off, you can lay a bit of gravel for drainage, or if you have no problem with flooding, go ahead and begin laying the slate in whatever style you like. Slate comes in unusual sizes and shapes, so if you want a more sculpted look, you will need to do some pre-arranging to ensure they fit. You don’t have to be perfect, but if you do want perfection, then you will want to rent a wet saw for cutting the slate.

Most people use slate because of the nice rustic look, so be free and full of whimsy when you lay the slate. You will want to level the walkway as much as possible so that it doesn’t wobble when people walk on it. This is achieved easily with a hand level and removing or adding dirt under the rock. Remember to try to keep it level with the grass so you can mow over the walkway and not have to go back with a weed whacker.

Once you have the rock laid, then you are going to want to sweep in dirt to fill in any gaps. Seed the areas if you want grass to grow in between the stones, or simply sand in and moisten between.