SHARED WISDOM

My “stone age” began in my childhood, when my dad would take our family on hikes to the creek behind our house.

- Marcia Westcott Peck

Each of us five kids “got” to pick out a flat cobblestone and carry it back home (with some complaining, of course). By the end of summer, we had a beautiful cobblestone path leading to our front door.

They say childhood memories are strong and stay with you. That must be true, because in our garden, my husband Dennis and I have created cobble paths much like the one I helped make with my dad all those summers ago. My father is no longer with us, but his memory lives on.

STONE AT HOME What you might not know—even if you read the column Dennis and I wrote for The Oregonian’s Homes & Gardens section for a decade—is that stones play a huge role in our landscape. From stone paths to the front door to the mosaic paths, from crushed-rock patios to a fire pit with rock work reflecting the night sky and even the stone designs topping off containers, virtually every stone was handpicked at our local rock yard.

Throughout our garden we have developed many stories and memories of our own. For example, our daughter, who never showed any interest in gardening when she was young, is now an avid gardener who grew 49 varieties of tomatoes from seeds last summer. Our son was married in our garden, and our beloved pets are buried under the cobblestones.

Even though these projects have been a lot of work, I wouldn't change a thing. I’ll show some of the hows and whys on the following pages, and I hope that you can be inspired by these creations, whether you have room for a mosaic patio or just enough space for a small pot topped with stone.

Get Creative With Materials