Lay a Curved Stepping-Stone Paver Path for About $125 in a Day

The Problem

A full paver walkway — excavation, compacted aggregate, screeded bedding — is a serious project. For a garden path that carries feet and nothing else, that spec is overkill, and the price of hiring it out is hard to justify.

The Technique

1. Dry-lay the pavers on the grass and play with the arc until the spacing and curve look right. Nothing is committed yet — this is the design step, and it's free to redo.
2. Cut around one paver at a time with a long-blade spade. Use a sawing motion and let the blade do the work, so it doesn't hang up on dandelion roots. Lift the sod in one or several pieces.
3. Put down a sand bed in each cutout and set the paver.
4. Level to your goal. If the path should be dead level, check each paver with a torpedo level and true up the sand. If it should follow the lawn — as in the reel — set each paver flush with the surrounding grass surface instead.

The reel's numbers: 13 pavers at 20 by 20 inches (55 to 60 pounds each), six bags of sand, about $125 in materials, roughly 15 minutes a paver — call it five hours for 24 feet, with the store run and breaks.