Established paths make for reliable, comfortable walkways through the garden. Well planned and correctly laid out, paths lend the garden structure and character – according to where they lead and what material they’re made of.
Form and surface should fit both home and yard: large, right-angled surfaces are likely unsuited to curving paths – unless they’re laid out in a fan pattern. Another ground rule: every path should have a destination, and not just an abrupt ending that doesn’t lead to anything. Good endpoints might be a patio, a lushly growing flowing box, a bench, or a solitary planting.
It depends on …
For frequently used paths, to the garage or to the back of the house, for example, connections that are as short and direct as possible make most sense. If a path is meant to accommodate a wheelbarrow, it will have to be wide enough, made of solid material, and include a suitable turning radius. For weeding between shrubs, by contrast, a few stepping stones will suffice. A wild-looking country garden becomes even more charming with the addition of loosely connected natural stone or bark mulch.
Path boundaries and green edging
The loveliest pebbled path loses its effect when small stones roll onto the bordering lawn or brown clumps of earth mix into the rock layers! Prevent this with curbstones, a loose surface that establishes the paths. One particularly nice alternative to stone is plants. They make for optimally harmonic transitions. If a path runs straight ahead, for example, loosen it up with an edging of lady’s mantel (Alchemilla), low-growing roses, catnip (Nepeta), and geranium, with blossoms that will spill over the path a bit. Essentially any shrub that grows thickly or as a ground cover is a good choice for planting right along the path’s edge.
Pros will even leave out some plaster stepping stones to allow room for suitable plants. These must be undemanding enough to thrive in such a spot. The wider the edges, the better they’ll grow. Plants like fragrant chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile) and cat’s paw will tolerate being stepped on now and then. In sunny spots, plant thyme as an edging for a spicy aroma. Stone-garden plants and groundcover perennials such as thrift (Armeria maritime), different varieties of rockfoil (Saxifraga), creeping alyssum (Alyssum saxatile), rock cress (Aubrieta hybrids), and moss phlox (Phlox subulata) will artistically border or spill over into paths that would otherwise seem barren and austere.
