Looking great! I’m guessing you know this, having read the thread, but in case not - it’s a little ridiculous how much tamping can be needed to lay out a stone floor like this so you remain happy with it over time. Human-level “seems pretty solid to me!”, lacking experience, has no bearing whatsoever on the big and slow forces involved lol.
Edit: mulch over the sand under the rocks sounds sus, but I may have misunderstood. And to be clear, I’m far from an expert, learned how to do it “right” nearly a million years ago from an opinionated man (pops) who was legitimately excellent at things like this, and little else lol
It might end up not working out, but the mulch is meant to break down and become a medium for moss to grow on top of, so it’s not structural. It wasn’t a thick layer, either. If it does end up being an issue, well I suppose it’s a good thing the floor isn’t mortared in place.
Nah that sounds lovely, I had the wrong framing in my head in the first place, got hung up on some old ish in my brain.
It’s not a thing that has to be installed once and be ~perfect forever, like those client jobs were, this thing is yours, entirely different set of requirements and goals. And anyway, probably it will be staying perfect regardless lol!
My bad for any seed of doubt in other words, I like what you’ve done a lot, moss between sounds 🤌, cuz you’ve fit the stones very well, I know how time-consumimg (also satisfying 🤤) that is.
Anyway, great post, wish that whole shebang was at my spot :) cheers!
I know how time-consumimg (also satisfying 🤤) that is.
All those hours with legos and playing tetris found their use.
Fill in the cracks with dirt and seed with clover!
Transplanting moss from the other side of that fence.
What is under the stones?
Last year I laid out cardboard to clear the underlying grass and weeds. This year I tilled that up and flattened the earth, added about 1.5" (3.81 cm) of levelling sand and tamped that down to compact it. On top of the sand I did a layer of pine bark mulch to doubly prevent weeds and promote moss growth between the stones (moss likes acidic surfaces). I think I’ll put some more mulch and sand down and sweep it into the cracks when I have the rocks all fitted together a little tighter.
“…about 3.81 cm” is amusingly contradictory - that’s an oddly specific measurement. Still, I genuinely appreciate you doing the conversion for us.
I refuse to believe that OP was not down there with a ruler and magnifying glass to ensure accuracy.
It’s the only possible explanation
I’m going to try mulching between our stones to promote moss growth
My partner has been collecting rocks and we’ve been building fun garden rock paths.
I wanted to use cedar for the smell but it seems the oils in cedar prevent moss growth. Pine does double duty in weed prevention and raising acidity. You could use sphagnum moss but that might end up encouraging mold.
Of course one could trest it like a terrarium/paludarium and put springtails in your greenhouse.
Uh-oh. I might have just added a lot more work to my plate. We were already planning on a container pond but maybe now we’ll make it a full on mini-ecosystem in there.
GIANT ISOPOD TERRARIUM
Want.
