A lever, of some kind, is a necessity for heavy stones. Even very heavy stones can be levered up enough to get a bit of board under them and then worked up over previously laid stone.
When you get a large stone up onto the previously laid stones, always position it so there is a gap under one edge that you can use as a gripping point. To re-lay a heavy stone without disturbing your carefully leveled base, lever it up into a vertical position and walk it across the previously laid stones to the very edge of the spot it is to occupy. Line it up straight and ease it down, letting it drop the last few inches. If it falls too close to the previously laid stone, use a crowbar to ease it out. When the stone seems about right, lay a board on it and, using a heavy hammer, tap it into place. Then, stand on it and rock opposite corners. If they move, you have more work to do; if they stay firm, your stone is just right.
You can level stones "by eye" but using a spirit level is best. When working on a slope, you can only use a level across the slope. You need to keep a string on stakes, marking the fall, to get the proper height as you go down the slope.
Of course, where the stones from the left path met the stones from the right path, there was a certain amount of adjusting that had to take place...including lifting and resetting about six feet of one path which proved to be too high. But, it was finally down and firm.
Once laid, the cracks have to be filled with sand. For this, fine mason's sand is best. Dump a shovel full and sweep it into the cracks. Then, using a fine spray, hose it down to settle it in and repeat the process until the cracks remain full after hosing down.
Planting
Strictly speaking, only the wall side beds are "shade" beds, although none of this garden receives full sun all day. The sand bed in the center gets about four or five hours of sun, while the wall side beds only receive about two and a half hours of early sun. Only one of these beds is complete. The other has plants in it, but they put themselves there and will be removed in the near future so I can fill the bed and put in the rightful inhabitants.
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