What sort of concrete/mortar do I need?

stuart45

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81924586#Comment_81924586

Concrete would look different, as you can see it in between the stones. With poured resin you see more stones. Even when exposed aggregate is done by using a sprinkler on the face before it has got too hard it still does not look quite the same.

Rusty190

Yes, I'm wanting to lock the cobbles in place to stop the squirrels pinching them. It is squirrels doing the thieving as I've seen them sitting on the fence, front paws held up clutching the cobble (and possibly laughing at me!).

I find them buried in the grass, in my plant pots and sometimes dropped on the footpath. Most of them have left the premises completely.

I'm not sure that resin would do the trick as it's cobbles I want to replace not gravel which is obviously smaller pieces.

My thinking was something along these lines:

though I'm sure my skills won't be anywhere near as advanced as Jeffrey Bale's.

The strip to cover is roughly 80 feet long which is why I felt mini stepping stones/tiles would work best as they could then be made in sections under cover and laid in place as and when weather permits.

bjorn_toby_wilde

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81924739#Comment_81924739

That looks interesting. Quite an area to cover. If you do go this route please come back and show us the results.

ic

Could you pin them down with chicken wire? Putting concrete in will change your drainage. Where you're standing in the pic, is that real wood? Does it drain towards or away from the stones?

80 feet is quite an undertaking - that'd be a lot of mixing and pouring. You'd need to commit to the gravel being the base to the concrete - It wouldn't be any good for standing on unless you properly prepare underneath and then give the concrete a bit of depth - at which point you'll be buying in tonne bags crained off a lorry. I bet you'd use a bag of premix concrete every three or four foot if you went that route.

Rusty190

I toyed with the idea of chicken wire @ic but gave up on that when I could only find it in bare steel colour, green or black - the latter 2 being pvc covered wire. Ideally, I'd want brown.

I'm not sure if it wouldn't look a bit ugly but I suppose I could try a sample and see.

The "wood" you mention is composite decking so drainage isn't really an issue and the area I really want to sort out is edged with paving slabs :

like this.

That stone/gravel strip isn't really walked on anyway by humans, as it is right up against the fence with a perfectly decent paved path alongside it.

Small loose stones/gravel was my other thought. The squirrels are fussy about which cobbles they nick, their preference being ones about the size of a hens egg or a bit larger. The issue with small gravel is the birds who like to rummage amongst it and fling it around with gay abandon - and I don't really like the look of it anyway.

The easy answer would be a big bag of very large cobbles which would be too heavy for the squirrels to make off with but, it's a terraced house with rear access issues so I'm a bit limited to something I can fit in my car boot.