Cedar mulch path with "Stomp Stones"

There are a lot of advantages to a cedar mulch path - its inexpensive, easy to maintain and has a lower environmental impact than a paved path. The finished path creates a casual and organic feeling, perfect for afternoon feline saunters.

To build this path, we followed the advice of the very helpful folks at the East End Garden Centre.

First, we dug down about six inches.

This photo of the sod pile does not do it justice - it seemed much bigger in person.

Then we layered 4 - 6 sheets of newspaper as the base of the new path. The cedar mulch is approximately 3-4 inches deep. Hopefully, this will be enough to keep the weeds down [Update: 2 months later, we get the occasional weed coming through on the edges where critters have dug up the paper, but other wise it's holding up well] .

Mark makes a fashion statement.

Halfway there...

We chose the Stomp Stone pavers because they are;

1. Lighter than stone or concrete
• We did not need to rent a car to pick them up
• We can move them around the garden much more easily
2. More environmentally friendly
• Stone must (usually) be quarried, which can have significant environmental impacts
• Concrete manufacturing is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and one of its components must be mined or quarried
• The Stomp Stone is 98% made from recycle materials (tires and plastics)
3. Reasonably priced
• $19.99 from Home Hardware/pack of 4 pavers

The finished path, a couple weeks (and a lot more sod removal) later...