I don't know what delivery of stone is to your property or if you have access to a trailer but my choice would be to lay down 2" of pea gravel and rake it out. Pea stone is very natural looking and is comfortable under foot. If raking out that area is a bit much for you I believe any neighbour with a strong teen would love to make a few dollars. For a young fellow or gal it should take no more than 2 hours to do. Double that would give them plenty of time to spread it, rake and level and tamp it by hand. I would have no problem paying $50.00 and a lunch for them. A yard of pea gravel here is $125.00 delivered, however the quarry is only a 20 minute drive. A hand tamper is $20.00 a day to rent.

Good luck

can you post a pic? Without seeing what you're dealing with, it'd be irresponsible to offer a solution.

along the lines of the above, for an additional $50 or so you can rent a gas-powered plate compactor or a jumping jack. In 20 years in the business the only person I've ever seen get anything resembling decent compaction from a hand tamper was a 300 lb powerlifting firefighter who worked on our crew part time. Otherwise a hand compactor is great exercise but you're accomplishing very little actual compaction.

Thank you both.

I have attached a picture. Right now, we basically put rocks around the perimeter, but the stones inside are the same as what is all overa our stone driveway. All the orange are dead leaves that I have to clean out :).

I don't know what delivery of stone is to your property or if you have access to a trailer but my choice would be to lay down 2" of pea gravel and rake it out. Pea stone is very natural looking and is comfortable under foot. If raking out that area is a bit much for you I believe any neighbour with a strong teen would love to make a few dollars. For a young fellow or gal it should take no more than 2 hours to do. Double that would give them plenty of time to spread it, rake and level and tamp it by hand. I would have no problem paying $50.00 and a lunch for them. A yard of pea gravel here is $125.00 delivered, however the quarry is only a 20 minute drive. A hand tamper is $20.00 a day to rent.

Good luck

I don't know how I double posted at 4:17 PM I wasn't even home!!!!!

Good point about the hand tamper Marcinde, I didn't mention the gas tamper because it's not for a first timer without good instruction and experienced supervision, not a toy.

I don't want to be too critical here but that patio isn't really a patio, it's a space with some furniture on it. I would get rid of the rock perimeter, they really aren't boulders. To me it's a tripping hazard and doesn't really serve a purpose. I might suggest you go online or to a big box store and get some design ideas for a patio for a natural setting and develop a plan before you do anything. A good design here really won't break the bank. My wife is an interior decorator but has some unique ideas here at our lakeside cottage. I'll show her and we will she if she has a suggestion for you.