How to Build a Stone Path With Ground Cover

Lay out your garden path with stakes and pound the stakes into the ground with a rubber mallet. Connect the stakes with a line of flour to mark the boundaries of your pathway.

Dig out the path with a sod cutter set at its deepest setting. Finish digging out the path with a shovel. The path should be dug to a depth of 5 inches.

Cover the dirt with landscaping fabric to create a weed barrier and prevent grass from growing underneath the pathway.

Cover the path with 3 inches of paving sand. Rake the sand evenly and tamp with a tamping tool.

Select flagstones, paving stones or bricks that are uniformly 2 inches thick and of a similar size and shape. Your paving stones should not be too big for you to carry on your own.

Tie a piece of string across the top of your path from stake to stake. The string will be your guideline to ensure that you lay all the stones at the same height.

Lay the stones across the pathway. Piece them together so that they interlock, leaving two inches of space between each stone. Check that the top of each stone is the same distance from the string. For stones that are too high, use the mallet to pound them deeper into the sand.

Brush soil mix into the cracks between each stone with a push broom.

Plant creeping thyme, or other low, spreading ground cover like baby's tears, in between the largest cracks. Dig down past the soil and into the sand to place the root ball. The groundcover will grow into the cracks and into both the soil and sand.