How to Lay Fieldstone

Create a layout of your project, using a length of rope to make a visual representation of your path or patio. Mark the edges of the project by driving garden stakes into the ground with a hammer. Remove the rope.

Remove the sod from the marked area with an edger. Run the edger around the contours of the area to cut the grass in 1-foot-wide strips. Stick a spade under the grass to loosen the sod and pull it up. Discard the sod in a compost pile.

Dig up 3 to 4 inches of soil with a shovel to make room for the fieldstone. Remove more dirt if you've chosen thicker stones.

Lay a 1-inch-thick wooden board or premade steel edging along the outside edge of your trench. Pound wooden stakes into the soil with a rubber mallet every four inches along your edging pieces to hold them in place. Place the stakes flush against the wood or steel. The edging prevents grass from growing into your fieldstone surface.

Line the bottom of your trench with landscaping fabric to prevent weeds from growing up into your pathway or patio. Hold the fabric in place temporarily with bricks.

Pour gravel into the trench until it is 4 inches deep, removing the bricks that held down the landscaping fabric as you go. Smooth out the gravel with the rake. The gravel prevents the fieldstone from sinking into the soil.

Place a fieldstones on top of the gravel. Choose the best side of each stone and place it faceup. Pound each fieldstone into the gravel with a rubber mallet. Lay all stones in this manner, using your desired spacing between stones.