This guy is a rock star! Mark Vanderlinden did the design and muscle-work on this organic flagstone path that circles around the side of his home to a back patio.

Mark’s home came with several stacks of stone (click here to see one) left by the previous homeowner. He and his partner, Jarret Einck, used it to fashion the 107-foot-long path from the entrance of the garden to the patio in back.

Click here to see the before.

Here’s the process:

1. Use garden hoses to lay out the curve of the path. Mark decided on a 3 1/2-foot-wide design—large enough to comfortably accommodate a wheelbarrow.
2. Rent a sod cutter and remove the sod (this really speeds the process). Caution: Sod cutters are heavy. It took Mark, Jarrett, and burly neighbor to lift it.
3. Dig down 4–6 inches. Tamp the dirt. “I got stuck doing the tamping because I can’t drive a stick-shift,” Jarret says. Mark did truck duty, hauling the sod cutter and several loads of gravel.
4. Stake composite edging on both sides of the path. Mark and Jarrett chose edging that would sit flush with the sod and stones.
5. Add crushed gravel, about 2–3 inches deep. Tamp the gravel.
6. Add about 1 inch of coarse sand. Draw a screed board between the edging and over the sand to smooth it.
7. Place the stones one by one, just like a giant jigsaw puzzle. Try to maintain even seams between stones. Tap each stone with a rubber mallet to set it in the sand.
8. Pour small pea gravel along the seams and use a broom to sweep it into the cracks.

Mark did a nice job of placing the stone so seams are even.

Click here to see ideas for stone paths that incorporate plants.