Carving rustic stone steps out of hillside with flagstone.
I’m finally getting around to posting the progress pictures of my rustic stone steps that I carved out of our hillside. They curve around a black walnut tree and are in between the tree and my greenhouse. The steps continue as a path that leads to my Studio Gardens and art studio.
Before I added the steps, I had to walk around the tree and down a hill that was grass, which meant it was slippery when wet. The area where I added the steps was always neglected, as the lawnmower didn’t fit through there and it would occasionally get hacked with the weed eater. I had Johnson Grass growing up in-between sunflowers because the bird feeder is in that tree.
Here’s what it looked like before the steps. What a weedy mess!
So, here we go!
I started with a small trailer full of this flat sandstone that we got wholesale from a quarry in Kentucky. Sadly, they’re out of business now. I’d sure like to have some more of this stone.
I want to state for the record, this is the only help I received at all for the construction of these rustic stone steps! My husband and son helped load the trailer with the rock that was being stored across the lake on a palette. I dug, tugged, pulled, strained and sweated my but off for this entire project by myself. I’m quite proud of it and even more proud that I can say I built it by myself.
I picked out the largest and thickest pieces for the steps. I was looking for 2″ or more in thickness so they would be sturdy.
These were the first two steps that I put down. I basically put the stone where I wanted it (thinking this would be the top of the stairs) and started digging until the stone laid level. This meant I had to dig from the back of the stone – where your heel is when standing on the stone when walking down. I really had no idea what I was doing, so I made it up as I went along.
It turned out that these first two steps would eventually become the middle of the stairway as I didn’t like the grassy hill that I still had to walk up before getting to mostly flat ground.
I didn’t take a photo of every single step I put in, but it was helpful to be able to look at them to see the steps at a different perspective (sort of). So here is just the third step in working down.
I will say these stones are pretty heavy – I had to use a hand truck (dolly) to move some of them – remember the trailer with the stone is at the bottom of the hill – oy. It took what seemed forever to finish this project, not to mention it was the end of July and sweltering hot. That always makes me move at a snail’s pace.
I wanted to give you and idea of the slope of the hill that I’m dealing with. Not the worst, but could be dangerous for people to come down. I have my art studio down there and I plan to have open studios so I needed a safer route down the hill.
This second photo taken from atop the hill shows you the lake that you can then roll into after you fall… can you say lawsuit? (yikes)
Back to the stones… here is a close up detail photo of the stones. I left a comfortable 2 or 3 inches or so for the “step down”. I’m short (5’1″) so I didn’t want to be falling down the stairs. This is a nice and comfortable stride to take downwards – for me at least.
I was sort of landscaping as I went along by adding a few plants in that I had divided and adding mulch. The succulents were there already in a retaining wall style planter that you can no longer see.
Later as the steps progressed, I had to use a trowel to dig out more dirt so that every time it rained I wouldn’t have muddy steps. I ended up finding small stones out of the batch that I would add under the large stone to block off the dirt – a riser if you will. The smaller stone also acted as support for the step – a happy accident.
I look down at what all I’ve still got to do… oy. Plus, I’m planning to continue on with the stones to make a path around the greenhouse that will lead to Studio Gardens, koi pond and the entrance to my art studio. Lots of work still ahead. I’ll post about the path with more photos in another blog post.
I kept at it, digging more dirt out and laying down the stones. I put the dirt in the bucket to go dump somewhere else. Six steps in at this point.
The curve I planned is really becoming apparent now. I’m getting pretty excited at this point because I’m really liking how it’s looking.
I found it encouraging to step back to look at how it looks from afar at different angles. You can see a peek at the area I call Studio Gardens to the left.
More work and I’m getting closer… the triangle shaped stone is the last one that is part of the steps. It’s fairly level there and the path to Studio Gardens can begin with this stone.
You may notice above there are a few more stone steps above the ones I started with. I eventually added eight more steps above the original “top” of the stairs.
It’s like putting together a puzzle to see which pieces fit the best together.
Below, is the photo where I’m trying to decide exactly how far I wanted to keep going. My goal was to have it to where a lawn mower could drive right over it for easier upkeep. (*I’m now laughing because nothing is easy upkeep that I create!!)
Here’s the final lay out with the stones dug in.
It was nearly dark but I had to mulch the top to be satisfied and get a photo.
The following day… The rustic stone steps are now complete! Yay! Of course the work doesn’t stop there. More planting and mulching… it goes on and on.
And Hey! Here is Zoey, my studio dog, using the new rustic stone steps!
So here are the steps almost a year later. It was May 2015 and mid to late spring and I had not quite finished mulching everything last year and the weeds came on with a vengeance! In early spring I had moved a clematis, now growing up the side of the greenhouse. My hostas are up as well as coneflower, mint under the tree, sedum covering the retaining blocks and the dark purple foliage is Pirella.
Below is just a few months later in June.
And finally, I just took this photo today and it’s August 5th a year later from when I first made the steps.
Update: I plan to put links to the steps on this page to see how it’s aging. Click here to see one. I even have the steps in a video here. (part 3 video)
Come back and see the next project, the pathway to my koi pond and Studio Gardens.
UPDATE: 3/29/2020
So it’s been several years since I put in the steps and I can happily say they are holding up just great. I love them just as much today as when I first did them. The only thing I would’ve done differently would be to have used some weed fabric not only to control the weeds along the sides and under the step, but also to control erosion. Since the dirt under the step is open in lots of places (even if just a crack between the rocks), I’ve found that heavy rains have sometimes made dirt come out. Not much since I have a lot of clay, but some. Also, that dirt has been host to many a weeds and unwanted flowers and tree seedlings.
Leave me comment if you’ve done this or were inspired by my path, I’d love to hear from you.
Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page in the menu at the top. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts.
If you would like to keep up with what I’m doing, I have a newsletter e-mailed about once a month that gives you special status for invitations, birthday greeting and more. I’d love for you to add your email to my Friends and Collectors list!
Thanks for the inspiration! I have a small cabin built up on posts. The cedar decking is 25 years old & rotting in spots, thanks to 2 huge maple trees, front and back, which drop their leaves every fall. I lived overseas for 7 years and the leaves piled onto the deck & rotted during that time. Now I’m thinking of removing the decking altogether, except for a small landing at the door, and replacing it with huge rock work, stone steps and a rock retaining wall beside the cabin, in order to create a root cellar.
You’re so welcome Thel! Thank you for taking the time to comment, I really appreciate that. I can just envision your cabin now with those beautiful maples but understand fully the problem of the rotting cedar. We too have cedar siding. We have a huge sycamore tree that is actually in the center of the deck and it’s a horrible mess all of the time. Huge leaves, sticks, large strips of bark not to mention the gum ball thingys that it drops each fall. I love trees, but I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to build a deck around the sycamore. It’s gotten so big, it’s now broke the deck because it outgrew the hole and my husband didn’t cut the hole bigger in time.
A root cellar sounds great but all that rock work sounds like a ton of work and massively expensive! (no pun intended!) I still love my stone steps though and wouldn’t try to talk you out of it at all. The only thing I would say is consider any kind of view that you get from your deck. Your view will surely change because you’ll be lower. That might not be a problem, but then again you may miss it. The new composite decking would be the way I would go if we had to re-deck. It looks incredibly real and it doesn’t rot. So if you have to be gone again, that wouldn’t hurt the deck.
Do you garden a lot to have a root cellar? I’ve never had a root cellar, it sounds convenient. Thanks again Thel, I’d love to hear more about your cabin. – Jaime
absolutely love the steps!! I can appreciate your hard work and I too am planning to put steps in a steep hillside on my property Any tips, you did a great job
Thanks Kathy! It’s been several years since I’ve put the steps in and I’ve had a chance to see what happens over time. So, I do have a couple tips for you. First, pick out as thick of a rock, stone or paver as you can afford. The thickness makes it have a really good weight to the stone and they stay in place. I had a bunch of different thicknesses and the heavier ones haven’t moved. The thinner, lighter weight ones have moved a bit and the moles that I have, are able to dig up a bit in-between them. Dang moles.
Next I suggest putting small rocks under the step to make a riser. I didn’t need it to keep the rocks from collapsing, but where I did put them, there is less muddy mess when it rains. It’s not as bad as it used to be, as moss has grown in and the dirt is packed but weeds grow in there and occasionally I do need to spray the stone treads off. If you add them as risers, they also help keep your step level and not fall forward.
Next, use a good long life weed blocker under the stones, especially under a walk way area. I filled in with mulch, which looked beautiful but the weeds loved to germinate in it. It also didn’t stay very long. I now have pebbles (river rock) in-between the rocks.
Finally, don’t forget the stones will sink. Don’t bury your stones too far down or your grass or whatever may grown over it!
That’s really all I can think of right now. I have to say, I’ve enjoyed having these rustic steps and they are holding up really well. Plan your project out, be ready to be exhausted but you’ll be able to reap the rewards for years to come!
Thanks for visiting and commenting! I hope you visit again 🙂
I love it. I did the same when I was young. We built steps, patios and walls throughout the property. I’m in my own house now and the arthritis in my hands from all that work prevents
me from doing even the smallest jobs. In retrospect, I wish I’d used a gel mitt every time I worked with stone. Just sayin…
Thanks Carol! That’s too bad you’re not able to enjoy all your hard work that you had done in the past. I understand though with the arthritis in your hands you aren’t able to build more, the older I get the slower I get and I don’t have it in my hands but I do my knees. I’m not familiar with gel mitts, I’ll have to look into those. I’m glad to have you visit my site, I hope you return! Take Care.
Any idea what the cost was?
I think I’ve got a couple hundred dollars worth of stone here. But this was years ago and we were fortunate enough to get the stone from where they pulled it out of the ground, so it was less expensive because there was no middle man. I think the cost could be roughly figured out by measuring your square foot area and take that number to your local store that has sandstone or whatever type of stone you’re planning to use. They are usually experienced enough to help you figure out how much you’ll need. Remember to add a bit to that number because it’s like putting a puzzle piece together. Not everything fits where you might want it, so there could be stones you can’t use in the stairs. However, they make beautiful accents for flowers and landscaping and won’t go to waste. It’s definitely cost effective if you can do the labor yourself.
We are looking to do something like this too. We have a hill that is impossible and dangerous to mow, so we hope to plant a flower garden on it and have a pathway that would still allow us to walk down it. I like what you did, and your suggestions will be helpful! You did an awesome job, and I love the way it curves! I’m impressed you got all those steps done in a day. That gives me hope for our project.
Thank you Sherry! It was exhausting but so worth it. I still enjoy those steps and like you, I love the curve. I think that curve adds so much character to it. You might plan your flower beds to accommodate a nice sweeping curve too. Have fun creating yours.
Looks great! I think I’ll be using this as inspiration for cabin lakeshore steps 🙂
As an FYI, a couple inches of compacted class 5 with a light layer of “leveling” sand as a base should do wonders to help with erosion control and even weeds.
Thanks!
I’m honored to have you use it as inspiration. You just can’t go wrong with natural stone in my opinion. Thanks for the tip about the leveling sand, I hadn’t thought of that. I actually used it in the flat part of the patio. It never occurred to me to use it in the steps, hah. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
That is exactly what I would have done if I wasn’t 81 🙂
Haha I don’t know if I could do it now myself! 😀
I love your steps and am inspired to build my own. We live in a walk out bungalow so there is a slope from front to back. We had a contractor install flagstone stairs on one side and they are beautiful but $$$$$. Now I’d like to have a set on the other side going to the back but don’t want to spend $$$$$ so I was looking for ideas for stairs and I came across your post. Thank you for the motivation, ideas and tips (risers) and I even benefit from the comments that people wrote to you. I’m 56 so I need to go slow but if I ever get them finished I will have you to thank!
Hi Cathy, I’m so glad to hear my steps have inspired you. Yes, labor and materials are so costly! I’m sure the contractor did a great job on your stairs, maybe you can look at them to try and match them and combine my ideas, too. I hear you about going slow, but I believe in you! The older I get (I’m 53 now), the slower I move in the garden. But slow and steady wins the race! Don’t hurt yourself and I look forward to seeing photos of yours when you finish, make sure to send me some! – Jaime