Brick Paving

Clay Bricks are a time honored way to pave paths, patios and driveways. There are brick roads over 200 years old, and the clay bricks are still in fine shape. Here is one such road in Bethlehem, NY.



There are many advantages to using clay bricks. One is that bricks allow water to enter into the ground, rather than running off to the storm drain. As long as a well drained gravel base is used, the bricks do not have to have a large gap between then to allow infiltration.


The color of clay bricks is permanant, and will never fade. It is not a dye, but is baked throughout the whole brick.

Brick paving is low maintenance, it does not require sealing. If the pavement is damaged, it is easy to take out and fix the affected area.

The bricks are fast to install once the gravel base is sufficiently prepared. And the surface of the bricks is naturally non-slip.

The interlocking nature of bricks allows for many different pattern design alternatives. There are a range of colors available, from pink to yellow, from grey to red.

The Amherst Farmers Supply has a wide variety of bricks available, and they have displays set up to show the different patterns.

Goshen Stone for Landscaping

I love Goshen Stone. It is versatile, durable and beautiful too. The first time I saw it, I was amazed at the possibilities for using it in the garden. Back home in NH, all we had for local stone was granite, which is very hard to work with. Goshen Stone is very flat, and available in pieces that are 10' long by 10' wide. Now, moving such a piece is a different story!


Goshen Stone is unique because it is a sedimentary stone that has been metamorphized. The stone was formed when ancient ocean bottom was squeezed between tectonic plates 400 million years ago. What this means is that the stone is very strong and dense in one direction, and yet it can be easily split and worked at the edge. This allows the stones to be made very flat for paving (You can literally plane bumps off with a chisel) and they can be hand trimmed to fit extremely tight together. The stone is also strong enough to pave a driveway with, or to make a bridge across a waterfall.


Goshen Stone is usually a silver color, but there are also many browns, orange and reds found in different veins. At the Goshen Stone Company on Route 9 in Goshen MA, they let me choose which color stones I want. That way, we can pick for colors most suited for each job. The stone blends well with other materials, such as brick, granite or bluestone.


For anyone interested in learning how to work with Goshen Stone, I will be teaching a class at the Goshen Stone Company in July. We will be teaching folks how to build walls, stairs and patios. We will go over different ways to move and work the stones. This will be the 12th year that I have taught the class. For more info, check out this link: HOW TO CLASS