How to Create an Inexpensive Mulch and Stone Walkway
How to Create an Inexpensive Mulch and Stone Walkway
Spring is on its way and that means more rain. It’s also the time of year when the grass has been dormant and there is more exposed dirt and mud in your yard. Let’s be honest, everyone tends to have problem spots in their landscaping that end up looking like a mud pit. And if you have kids or pets running around, it won’t be long before that mud comes walking into your home.
For those of us that live in the south, mud is not just wet dirt. It’s usually red clay! And unfortunately, it will stain everything you own and make housekeeping a nightmare. Time to come up with a fast and inexpensive solution to the mud problem.
While searching Lowe’s for some ideas, I stumbled across this no-dig landscape edging. I was very excited to see that I wouldn’t have to dig a trench to bury half of it! Instead, it comes with pegs to nail into the ground. Suh-weet!
Materials:
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- Flat stones or stepping stones (cost will vary)
- No Dig Landscape Edging Kits
- Two different colors of mulch (I used 20 bags -10 for each color) $3 each
- Yardstick for your width template
- Hammer
- Garden Rake
Instructions:
Gather all your materials near the path site. Layout your stones and walk on them to make sure they are spaced for a comfortable gait. (Do you see that stick in the above picture? That is my path width guide.)
Use your path width template (aka stick) to keep your edging equal distance apart the entire length of your path. (You may need to put a weight on your edging or set a peg in halfway to hold the edging in place.)
After the path and edging are laid out, step back and take a look. Make any tweaks to your pathway now.
To set the path, start from one end and insert a peg into one end of the edging.
Then hammer the peg into the ground…
…until it is flush with the earth.
Continue setting a peg every 4-6 feet (and especially at the peak of any curves.)
Repeat for the other side of your path.
Open a bag of mulch and spread to the top of your stones and the edging. Use the back side of your garden rake to smooth the mulch and eliminate any high or low spots.
Repeat until you have filled your entire path. Then spread the second color mulch on the outside of your path.
Don’t you just love the contrast between these two? The lighter colored mulch is cypress and the darker is hardwood mulch. Walk on your stones and put some dirt or sand underneath any that wobble. Now stand back and admire your finished path! I think my favorite stepping stone is the broken heart stone I made with two rocks.
The entire path took me just over two hours. Not bad, and the bonus is that I didn’t need to go to the gym to workout that day!
Want to improve your curb appeal? Here are some tips and tricks to improve your landscaping in no time!
That looks great, and I’m sure it will help keep winter mud at bay. Thanks for the great, economical solution!
Exactly what I wanted to do. Ty. You made it easy.
How do you end the path? Ours will lead down into our yard. Do you put barriers at the end as well?
I just stopped adding more mulch at the grass.
I am so glad I found your site, great ideas and tutorials. 🙂
Try Sheet Mulching 3 months before to kill of weeds! Lay on wet soil layers of cardboard or newspaper (8 sheets of newspaper) layered with compost, straw, mulched leaves or mulch and let mother nature kill grass/weeds…then before laying stones (instead of weed barrier) add a few more layers of newspaper, then mulch or use pebble stones (that don’t need to be replenished)…not only will you enrich the soil, you will have a cheap weed barrier that will low maintenance!!
Gorgeous! I have been really thinking about doing this in my yard, and now I am convinced!! Thank you for sharing!
Bookmarking this project – thanks for the inspiration! I have to remove grass, but I want to make a little path from front door to the back gate (a short distace) but instead of mulch around the stepping stones I wan to use that terra cotta colored rock fill that you see on park paths (not sure what it’s called – not pea gravel). so excited I won’t have to dig trenches!!
I think you are probably referring to crushed granite. I am also curious how fast the weeds start growing. I would have thought you would need to put a weed barrier down with a couple of inches of sand before laying the stones and the mulch. Anybody know for sure? I’d hate to do this project and then have the weds start growing through.
Pennie, if your spot is fairly sunny and you have good soil you might want to put down a weed barrier. Ours is just a big mud mess, so I just put new mulch over it each year which helps control the weeds.
I have to add to all my mulch areas every year or every other anyway. So that’s not a negative. Great project and great photos and info. Thanks.
Great solution. I’m curious though – Do you find that the mulch drifts out of the edging when it rains? I’m just wondering if it is tall enough to keep the good stuff in…
The section that is flat doesn’t wash out too much, however there is a drain pipe that empties into the path which does carry some mulch away when it rains. If your pathway is on a slope, be prepared to refill the mulch yearly. I hope that helps ;-).
Bought 6 boxes of this edging the 20 foot with stakes.Found out on the outside of the box it states to have (1) 8 inch connector to join them together. Well they are not supplied why state this if not true.
David,
I’m sorry the kits didn’t come with the connector pieces. I think they may be with the bags of extra pegs that I recommended purchasing as well.
So glad I stumbled onto your side when I googled the Garden Plus no dig edging. I just purchased some and was considering taking it back because I’m just not sure, but now I’m going to try it. I need to go back and get some extra stakes. How difficult was it to uncoil it when you took it out of the box? Did you have to cut any? I am going to have to cut it, but it says a hack saw will work?
With plastic edging I open the package and lay it out in the sun for a while. It softens and is much easier to bend this way. A hack saw will cut it easily.