Limestone is a material that is known for its earthen beauty when used in structures and pathways. Fortunately Limestone is one of the preferred paving materials to be used by professionals as it creates a wonderful finish around most home and garden structures. If you need to create the perfect surround that any guest will find inviting then Limestone is the choice, especially around the garden or swimming pool areas. Various home improvement ideas around Limestone pavers includes stepping stones, main rock plates of a walkway or perhaps one large slide of rock to create a one piece walk way. The trade of creating a walkway out of limestone is called limestone paving.

Even the ancient empires of our past used limestone paving!

The most uncommon form of limestone paving is using it as a one piece walkway. This is often only seen near ancient structures in places like Arabia, or other places that the Turkish Empire has passed through or resided in. The reason why this method of pavement has only been used by ancient empires and is rarely used today is because of the amount of work and money that goes into a job such as this.

First you would need to find land that has large sheer cliffs or giant boulders that consist of limestone. It is very hard to find land in which one is able to harvest this, not because it is uncommon, but most places where this occurs are in land protected by the government such as national parks. In addition, the cost of transportation of a whole piece of limestone cut to fit a walkway is high as it is not in the light weight rock class. The cost of this adds up of course, especially since one needs a rock to be custom cut to fit the borders of their walkway.

Limestone Paving using the stepping stone technique

The "stepping stone" technique is the most common use of limestone. It is a rock of darker colour, and because of this, it contrasts nicely against smaller light coloured pebbles that can make up most of a walkway. It gives a nice effect, as it looks almost like a representation of a small stream with stepping stones.

There are many garden statures made from resin and wood that are meant simply to highlight this representation. An example could be the sea dragon: a three piece statue (the head, the mid section, and the tail) that looks like parts of it are under water. This stone is also often used as actual stepping stones in decorative ponds, as its green colour blends nicely with moss found in a pond.

Using limestone to pave a walkway as the main "rock plates" is also very common. This shows off the earthy and textural qualities of the rock by much easier means than a one piece walkway. It is relatively cheap, and easy to transport, as the materials for it are a series of plates that can be stacked.

How are you going to plate your walkway?

There are a few different ways to go about plating a walkway with this stone. The first is by using concrete, or some other adhesive, and keeping the plates close together so that they almost look like one solid piece of stone. Another way is almost a mix between the plating and stepping stone technique, as it uses smaller pebbles for the space in between the rocks but consists of larger limestone plates that take up the majority of the walkway.

Irrespective of which limestone paving method you choose there is no doubt you'll be truly happy with the end result as Limestone is such a fantastic style of paver to use. As limestone can be a delicate type of stone, it is essential to talk with professionals in this area who know and understand what you are looking to achieve first and can recommend the appropriate maintenance products to ensure your newly paved area stays fantastic.