The Brew Cabin

I live on a 200 year old farm in North Carolina. There are many fieldstone walks and patios. When we bought the house, there was originally concrete or mortar between the stones. This was not only ugly, but failed to anchor the stones, as each winter the concrete/mortar cracked, broke up and eventually washed away or was removed. We subsequently planted ordinary grass in between the stones. This gave a beautiful appearance but became a maintenace nightmare. Without weekly trimming, the grass soon crept over the stones and covered them. Considering there are hundreds of stone-stone interfaces, this became unmanagable. We are in the process of removing the grass. We wanted to know your suggestions on what to do to anchor the stones. We would consider replanting grass, if there were some variety that only grew to 1 or 2 inches, and would not require such intense care. We would consider other options, but are not keen on the idea of concrete etc. Our winters tend to be harsh with a fair degree of soil movement. We have tried sand and small rocks but both were quickly washed away. The stones have been in the ground for who knows how long and I am not sure how they were originally set. I suspect they were just put in the dirt. The large stones are hundreds of pounds, and have not been a problem with regards movement. However, the washout between them and the surrounding stones can be quite significant. The smaller stones, less than 100 pounds, are the problem children.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Kerry

I'm not sure if 'fieldstone' means the same in North Carolina as it does in North Warrington, but to us, fieldstones are large, irregular lumps of local stone, and as such, they don't really require 'anchoring'; their mass is sufficient to hold them in place to foot traffic. However, I can understand you wanting the joints to be filled.

I can't suggest any small grasses, as the types/species we have in the UK and RoI are totally different to those in continental USA, and you are not impressed with the longevity or otherwise of cement-bound materials so....

You could use a grit or a small gravel, I suppose. This won't anchor the stones but it will be maintenance free.

Or you could opt for a polymeric sand (see Alternative Jointing page ) as that would fill the joints and keep them more or less weed-free, but again, it would not anchor the stones.

If you want a permanent bond, then you need something flexible, perhaps a polymer system or an epoxy system, but I don't know what products are available in your country.

If it were mine, I'd go for either the grit/gravel option, or possibly something a touch more decorative, such as slate waste, a tumbled coloured glass or even something dashingly modern such as ball-bearings!

Hope that gives you some ideas. :)

Thanks for you input. Our fieldstones sound about the same. The smaller ones do come loose after constant rains if there is nothing in the cracks. The larger ones don't move, but the open cracks can serve to trip someone, if not filled. We've tried the grit/gravel but it also tends to get washed out. That's why we were interested in grass.
Kerry