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Re: [SG] cement stones

>Date:    Thu, 27 Aug 1998 14:19:25 -0500
>From:    John & Pat Adney <johnadney@EMAIL.MSN.COM>
>Subject: Re: fall planting
>
  snip
>
>However, I may change my mind;  yesterday I saw at a home building center a
>tool to make your own stone paths. Now that would look neat, though the
>process would be slower. Has anyone on this list used such a tool? How do
>the cement stones hold up?
>
>Thanks for your input.
>
>John G. Adney
>Marion, Iowa (zones 4-5)
>johnadney@email.msn.com

Hi John,
 If it's a mold that you can screed easily with large blocks then I would
consider it. If it's the one with the cobble stone look that has beveled
edges, Hell no!
 I did 40 running feet of that #$%^& mold for a client a few years ago. I
used as little water as possible to make it as strong as possible. Simply
screeding it left a lot of bubbles under the beveled edge.
 Look at the mold and count each 'cobble' in it. Now count how many times
you will need to lay this mold down on the ground. Multiply these 2 numbers.
 That's how many individual cement mudpies you're going to be making.

 To avoid bubbles under the beveled edge, you will want to push the cement
up under and against it with your fingers, then fill in the depression in
the center.
 To get rid of the cement shine and get a nice 'stone' texture, you can
gently wipe each cobble down with a slightly damp face cloth.  It handles
curves very well, and doesn't look too fake.
 But you'll never confuse it with a real stone path. Since we don't have
any stone that isn't imported from at least one hundred miles away at
outragous expense, that's not as big an issue in this area.
 It does look nice when it's finished. I planted a lot of different
stonecrop sedums in the spaces between the cobbles. But it really was a
labor of love/hate.
 They are also more wobbly than I would prefer for a primary path. The
individual cobbles are really too small to walk on comfortably without
constantly looking down at the path. You would want to either excavate the
dirt 2 inches deep, or grade up to it on either side and fill it in as
tight as possible.
 Another irritating thing to consider is the cost of bagged cement at Home
Depot vs buying a yard of cement from your local sand and gravel or brick
yard. The bagged cement is almost twice as expensive as just ordering a
yard of it.
 The fiberglass bagged cement is outragous, almost the cost of stone. (vs
just an extra $15 per yard, when we did the cement pad for our shed.)
 BUT, I needed to use the bagged cement (without fiberglass) because I only
had one mold, and had to mess with each pouring for so long each time I
used it, that a yard would set up before I had a chance to work it. The
cement guys also don't take too kindly to standing around waiting several
hours while you're playing with individual mudpies. ;-)

 After factoring in the cost of the bagged cement, and possible
aggrivation, and the fact that it's still 'just' a cement path, I would
consider using slate flagstones from Home Depot. Similar price (price it
out and see), and a *much* better look, IMHO.

 Another good compromise would be to use the wood chip path interspersed
with an occational cement stone, like the one's Tamara suggested. I like
these as much as a regular stone or brick surface. Since you live in an
area with heavy frosts, I would suggest the shapes she used, the fern leaf
and other leaves, or anything shallow. Try impressing the back of the leaf
instead of the front. We uses a few leaves of common blackberries. They
have deep ribs/veins on the back and leave a nice impression. Anything in
the 3-6 inch range would be a good choice.
 I've also used sunflowers (great image, but a fairly large shallow
depression in the center to collect freezing water), and black eyed susans
- not nearly as nice, overall too small an image from a distance, nice
petals, but a center dot thats 1/4 deep.
 Try something the size of a shasta daisey bloom instead, and watch out for
too deep seedheads.

Hope this helps,

Matt Trahan  <matttrahan@ecsu.campus.mci.net> or <garden@juno.com>
USDA zone 8, AHS heat zone 7, Sunset zone 31, northeastern N.C.
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