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Continuous bed of mortar is the key.. I’ve seen a pic of the aftermath of someone running a small, tracked cherry picker over a sandstone patio without laying down ground protection boards . Slabs were impossibly thin and laid scumbag-style with just a blob in the corners and not even any sand. Needless to say it reduced the whole thing to dust. Why he didn’t stop at the first slab instead of just ploughing thru the whole patio I don’t know.
If I ever have my own garden all materials will be chosen to withstand the stupidity of myself and any other mattock-swinging fool that goes near it.
It’s not that I don’t like nice/innovative landscaping it’s just that the snazzy stuff often feels like style over substance. I’ve worked on thousands of gardens and it seems the higher the price tag the more fragile it seems to be.
An Italian limestone picture to stop your whingeing!
Sandstone has its plus side, properly laid on a continuous bed of mortar it is fairly robust, it is cheaper than decent slabs (which people won't pay for) and it is a nice little earner!
@inchpincher, I like nice things as much as the next man and completely understand the pleasure of owning them, I just doubt that Japanese secateurs offer any advantage.