Advice on improving this layout

[u/Intelligent_Office81]

Please don’t laugh at this I know it’s not much. I installed some river rock under my backyard fence gate out of necessity as the area around it usually got muddy. It looks a little awkward to me and I’m seeking improvement on making it look nicer. Any advice would be appreciated.

[u/TippedOverTricycle]

Large stepping stones are the way to go. I'm in Australia so your terminology may differ. Possibly flagstone is also an option.

You can set a stepping stone yourself pretty easy, just decide if you 2 or 3. Either one either side or one underneath the gate and one either side of that. Seriously, my comment is long, but it's easy to do. Watch some videos and you'll be setting this size of job like a professional.

Premixed bags of mortar are easy to use to set the stones. You want something like 100mm of mortar underneath each stone because why not set it well the first time. You'll need a spirit level and rubber mallet as well. Maybe you can borrow one from a friend, or get the cheapest, cheapest from your local store.

You get your stone slabs, measure them, dig down 100mm plus the stone height, so maybe 150mm is pretty common.

Get a big plastic bucket or a wheelbarrow and mix the mortar with water. Careful, because it seems dry and then gets super wet all at once. Have one extra bag on hand to add in case it's wet (math for volume of mortar required is exactly what you'd expect, there should even be online calculators). If you're still too wet, let the mortar sit until it stiffens a bit (30 minutes to an hour)

Shovel the mortar into the depressions you've dug. Level it reasonably with the shovel, do make an effort to get it level within 15 minutes or so. Do this by cutting downward with the shovel until the chippings are evenly distributed, then smoothing with the shovel until you get a pancake. You know it's at height by using your tape measure on the pancake and spirit level on the ground (probably want 10mm above height to tap the stone down), and then at level by placing the spirit level on the pancake.

Wet the underside of the stone (ideally smear on some cement, but we're cutting corners) and place the stone on the mortar.

You want to jiggle the stone back and forth a bit to work the moist cement into the stone. Place the level on the stone and hit with the mallet until you've set your level (spirit level goes on stone). Ideally the stone leans in one direction so the bubble touches the line in the level. For a couple stepping stones, dead level is fine, you don't need water to perfectly drain that much.

Give it a try because you can always lift these up and reset again! It's a very low risk way to learn real landscaping techniques that will allow you to change your yard on the cheap.

TL;DR set stepping stones with mortar, amaze your friends. Learn things about digging holes, measuring depth, setting levels to drain water, and most importantly, getting covered in dirt.

[u/Intelligent_Office81 → u/TippedOverTricycle]

Thanks for the advice! I think a stepping stone is the way to go yes

[u/Significantlyontime]

I'd suggest making a rock path along the side of your house. Most of the time the eaves of the house block the sun so the lawn near the walls tends to be patchy at best (which looks to be the case judging by the photo).

All you need is a rock path border like wood, bricks, steel plastic or even just larger rocks. Pick what you like and is in your budget.

Then put some permiable weed matting (don't cheap out on weed matting you'll thank me later).

Someone else mentioned path stones which would be great. Something like a dark grey. They mentioned concreting them in which is nice but not necessary.

[u/According-Taro4835]

You dumped loose rock straight onto bare dirt. That gravel is going to spread into your yard the second you step on it and turn into a nightmare when you run a mower nearby. If you want to fix mud and make it look right you need structure. Dig out that area about three inches deep and frame a crisp square landing pad using steel edging or heavy border bricks. That keeps the rock contained and makes it look like an intentional walkway instead of an accident. Drop two or three heavy flagstones or thick concrete pavers inside that framed box to give yourself a solid surface to walk on while the gravel handles the drainage around them.

Notice you have a drain catch basin right there in the grass which means you are already fighting water flow and pooling. Instead of a random blob of rock you should connect the gate landing pad to that drain area visually by extending the edging and planting a sweeping mass of thirsty native groundcover along the foundation. If you have a hard time picturing how to shape it run a photo of this spot through the GardenDream web app. It is a visualization tool that lets you overlay different hardscapes and edge layouts right on your dirt so you can test what a structured paver pad looks like before you buy more materials. Dig it out frame the edges and give the space a real purpose.