Comments on: Building Stone Steps for Mules & Gardens

By: lostlandscape(James)

lostlandscape(James) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:46:56 +0000

Um…how do these “massive and rectangular” stones get moved into perfect position? I’m surprised the Trail Construction and Maintenance Notebook doesn’t talk more about those details. The only stones that I unearth in my garden are treacherously round hunks of alluvium that some ancestral river in Mexico deposited before the faults moved them north and uplifted them a few hundred feet. I’m sure there’s some garden use for them beyond low walls, but I’d prefer some Sierra granite for any sort of walkway.

By: Pam/Digging

Pam/Digging — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:53:44 +0000

I’ll be building some steps in my new garden, so thanks for the informative post.

By: GBDW – Coping with Slopes Wrap-Up

GBDW – Coping with Slopes Wrap-Up — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:01:42 +0000

[...] Building Stone Steps for Mules and Gardens (Ryan at DryStoneGarden): Ryan takes building with stone very seriously, so it’s no surprise that he offers some rock-solid how-to advice for building stone steps in this post. And in Cabernet Stone Terracing, he talks about considerations for terracing with dry-stacked stone walls. [...]

By: chuck b.

chuck b. — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:10:20 +0000

Wow, that sounds like a lot of work! I don’t think I would ever build my own stairs. Too much to keep in mind, too many things to go wrong. And then I’d be the first to trip and fall and break my neck. BUT, thank you for passing along the trail construction manual from the Forest Servive; it was very interesting to read.

By: ryan

ryan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:15:59 +0000

I’m glad this was helpful. It helped me when I had to learn how to build steps.
Cameron is good stuff. The steps should turn out nice.

By: Country Mouse

Country Mouse — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:03:28 +0000

Very timely for me too - thanks so much for the great info and advice. I have two sets of steps to build and stone to build them with (it’s called Cameron sandstone). I’ve also used Sonoma field stone for risers in the first set of steps I built and so far they are holding up so I thought I’d try that again. I’ll be back to reread this post!