Rhubarb Leaves Concrete Pathway

It’s finally warm here in Canada! It’s been a wet spring so the soft ground was perfect to get my new Rhubarb Leaves Concrete Pathway in place! See how simple and inexpensive this project is.

Hello Again!

Every spring I enjoy seeing my re-emerging perennials sprouting fresh new larger growth! Perennials are my favourite as they allow easy cleaning in the fall and save from buying new annuals each year. Look at the wonderful red of my Rhubarb; great tasting fruit(?) AND great texture for my concrete.

Rhubarb is pretty forgiving, not too fussy and each time I pick stalks I save the leaves to make a few stepping stones. If I can’t make them right away I keep them in water until I do. I can get at least 3 stepping stones from one $6 bag of Sand/topping mix. Last year we enjoyed many Rhubarb desserts so I had quite a collection of stepping stones made.

Hubby: “what are you doing behind the shed again?” Me: “just making a few stepping stones”… ( a common activity at my place)

Check out the fancy garden equipment; and yes, it works just fine.

The ‘Before’:

The side of my house is a bit troublesome to grow grass well since it does not get adequate sun or attention. I’d rather have minimal grass but do also link to the neighbour’s grass; that’s what hatched the idea to make a pathway/border to make less grass to maintain.

Dry Fit:

To see how it will look I set them along and alternated the direction. They are about 1″ – 1.5″ thick so they will not need too much work; just a one afternoon project.

Gardens look best when they have a distinct way of finishing edges. Just like in art the border gives it definition. These do double-duty as a border and a path! My Garden Makeover also benefited from a great edging, buy it did take more effort.

Perfect Fit:

Once I stood back and was happy with the placement I cut around each stone, one at a time. Old kitchen knives are also another favourite garden tool.

After pulling out the grass in the cut leaf shape I remove a layer of the soft wet soil and rough it up.

Keeping the grass pieces will help to make a few ‘patch plugs’ for any bare spots later on.

Yup, put your weight into it… stomp on it! If it does not sit flat, pull it up and remove a bit more in the problem area. Generally the big stem area is thicker due to the deep veins so allow for that. Stomping is the easy part!

Fill in any spots with the extra pieces of grass and admire your work! Drag every friend over and show them what you did this afternoon!

What the?! How the heck?! Yes, each stepping stone is unique and will get better over time. It’s not some fake looking plastic stepping stone, and perfectly accents nature.

Ah, yes a bit of fertilizer does help too. When mowing the lawn the machine can run right over them since they are quite low and thus not need fussy edging.

This side garden is full of perennials like the Hostas, peonies, Lavender, Allium, Euonymus, and Bleeding Hearts. It will soon be quite full and plush with fresh vibrant greens.

Perfecting Aging:

These are some of the first stepping stones I made over 12 years ago! They have lasted well and aged nicely with no sealer or paint.

In the damper areas some have even added a patina of moss. No ‘pink flamingo’ kind of stuff in my garden; just a nature inspired Rhubarb Leaves Concrete Pathway.

Alright, if you like this, then you may just like a few more of my garden concrete projects