A flagstone patio is versatile. The design used can be formal or informal. Flagstone works over concrete slabs or laid directly on existing stable soils. Flagstones are either irregularly shaped for crazy paving or pre-cut usually in squares or rectangles. Flagstone is available in multiple colors with buff, red, brown, and pink being most common. Gaps between flagstones can be filled with sand, planted with grass or creepers, or filled with mortar.
Squares are more expensive than un-cut pieces. If you are working with a patio restricted to a small area with firm fixed boundaries, pre-cut stones may be worth the expense to skip the headache some people get trying to fit random shapes in small spaces.
Planning a pattern with pre-cut squares is like setting-up any tile job. Draw the patio area to scale. Find out what size pre-cut stones your supplier carries. Decide what kind of spacing you want between stones. You may want a larger gap between stones if you are planning to plant grass or a creeper in the gaps rather than just filling in with sand. Determine how many cut squares you need and ask the supplier to cut any partial stones. Edging with timbers or bricks provides a clean transition from the patio to lawn or garden. Edging also provides a clean transition between slightly different grades.
Designing crazy paving patios can be a little trickier. The ideal use of irregular stones is as a path or free-form patio. The free-form patio will eliminate the need to cut straight edges on outer stones to fit within rigid boundaries.
For a crazy paving patio, first lay out your general boundaries. An oval works well as a general shape since it is easily approximated with somewhat irregularly shaped stones. Take the measurements and draw a sketch to bring with you to the supplier. If possible, pick your own stones. This will help assure they will fit and give you an idea about how many you need. The supplier can help estimate what you need based on your sketch. However, if you don’t pick the pieces yourself, you may end up with all small pieces or an uneven mix that will be difficult to place in a pleasing pattern. You may also need to do more cutting if you purchase a pallet.
If your patio area is large – say bigger than 4 feet by 6 feet – you may want to get half the stones you think you need. Take them home and lay them out. Measure the area remaining and figure out about what size pieces you want to fill the rest of the area.
The keys to putting together a pleasing pattern are to get the stones laid out before final placement. This means prepping your base area before developing your pattern. Lay the larger stones first. Don’t concentrate the large stones in a single area. Fill in with smaller stones cutting stones with a brick set as needed. Be sure you don’t use too many stones smaller than 6 or 8 inches across or your pattern will be too busy. The gap you leave between stones should be uniform. Narrow gaps work best if you are filling the gaps with sand or using mortar. Gaps for planting need to be somewhat larger – two to six inches.
Planting looks best when the flagstones are large. Fill the gaps with a mixture of sand and garden soil. You can strew seeds in the cracks or use small seedlings to plant your patio. The smaller the plant, the higher the likelihood the planting will be successful. Also, consider the use of the patio when picking plants. If there will be heavy foot traffic, pick a low, compact, hardy plant. Grass between flagstones is attractive and will tie the patio into your overall landscape.
Other design options include mixing other types or shapes of stone with your crazy paving flagstone. Pleasing patterns with mixed stones have more symmetry than crazy paving stones alone. A pattern with rectangular slabs and crazy paving stones works for a patio. Lay out the pre-cut stones in the area first leaving gaps for the other stones. Place the larger crazy paving stones first. You will likely need to do some cutting to get the gaps filled. Just be sure not to use too many small stones in one area. Fill the gaps with sand.
The design options with flagstone and other rock for your patio are unlimited. Follow some general rules -- be sure you have a stable base, level each stone as you set it, set larger stones first and fill with smaller stones, don’t use many stones less than 6 inches across. Your flagstone patio will be beautiful and durable providing you years of enjoyment.
