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Oh how I love a great garden path

March 7, 2013

My favorite of my boards on Pinterest is my “Great Garden Paths” board. I have a weakness for garden paths. There is something so incredibly inviting about a path through a garden. It says, “Explore me,” or “Feel free to look AND touch, I’m cool with it.”

My favorite garden paths bend around corners, begging you to follow them to see what lies beyond. In my book, a great garden design practically forces you to continue exploring and nothing does that better than a path.

Paths define how intimate a space is by their width. A wide path, by its very nature, is more social and meant to be traversed with company. A narrow path tells you you will be one with the garden.

Wide and stable, this path is meant for a crowd. I picture a group gathered for a dinner party, cocktails in hand, traversing this path to head back to the house after having appetizers in a scenic spot on the property.

Traditional Landscape by Wyckoff Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Horizon Landscape Company

 

 

Gravel is a lovely choice for a path. It is easy to maintain and makes the most lovely crunching sound underfoot, but it can be hard to walk on. I think it should be reserved for paths that are meant to be walked on slowly, not rushed down. Cut gravel is better than pea gravel, which can actually feel a little slippery because it rolls around. Of course if you intend to have people walk barefoot on the path, then you have to go with pea gravel, lest you create a torture device for bare feet.

 
 
 
Traditional Landscape by Naperville Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Western DuPage Landscaping, Inc.
 
The concrete (or perhaps bluestone) rectangles on this path give it a modern edge, but because it is still undulating, it has a little bit of a rustic feel too.
 
 
Modern Landscape by Severna Park Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Quayle & Company Design/Build
 
 
This path is easy to walk on with stones set in concrete, and well-defined by the red bricks.

Traditional Landscape by Palo Alto Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Verdance Landscape Design
 
 
I think my favorite paths have a mixture of materials and different sizes and shapes.
 
 
 
Traditional Landscape by Cambridge Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Gregory Lombardi Design
 
My own path is combination of flagstone, bluestone and black gravel (gardens have been added to soften the edges since this photo).
 

 Some paths are made of unexpected materials. This one is slices of a tree.

 
 
Eclectic Landscape
 
 
 
Eclectic Landscape by Hong Kong Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers GreenRoof Asia
 
Concrete strips with moss in between.
Los Angeles Times photo

I love this wood path.

Contemporary Landscape by Melbourne Design-Build Firms imag_ne design + construction

 

 

Some paths aren’t so much about the destination as they are about the path itself.

Traditional Landscape by Berkeley Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Goodman Landscape Design
 
 
Judy White/Gardenphotos.com photo
 
 

 

Contemporary Landscape by Melbourne Design-Build Firms imag_ne design + construction

 

This path isn’t even meant to be a path.

Victoria Vasilieve photo 
 

Obviously I have a thing for paths, but I think my favorite of all paths are those over water. What could possibly be more fun?

 
Contemporary Landscape by Walnut Creek Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers Huettl Landscape Architecture
 

Apartment Therapy photo

 
 
 

What does your perfect garden path look like?

 
 
garden path
by Erin @ The Impatient Gardener 
11 Comments

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Comments

  1. Nantucket Daffodil says: March 8, 2013 at 5:18 pm

    Thanks for following me on instagram! I love garden paths as well! I love the one with the river rocks, and the one with the mosses…..nice selections!(just followed you on pinterest too!

    Reply
  2. Heather - New House New HOme says: March 9, 2013 at 1:09 pm

    I'll follow you down any one of these garden paths, Erin. Thanks for the inspiration.

    We have a flagstone path that runs from the sidewalk up to the front of the house, curving a bit at the top. This will be my second full summer in the house and I'm planning on softening the edges of it by creating a garden that hugs each side of the curve. I'm thinking boxwood for a bit of an edging with hostas and some groundovers behind.

    Reply
  3. Ms. Wis./Each Little World says: March 17, 2013 at 9:43 pm

    what a great collection of images. The muscari path/river is always such a breathtaking scene.

    Reply
  4. Anonymous says: April 27, 2014 at 7:12 am

    Thank you for the path ideas,I have a load of Re-claimed hand made bricks from an old estate.Could not let them be thrown away.will send a pic. Richard of Norfolk. UK

    Reply
  5. Anonymous says: January 6, 2015 at 9:47 am

    I loved looking through the path photos. I am currently making a path through my bottom garden, using re-cycled post rails, and relocated volcanic rocks. Hard work but sooo rewarding at the end of each day, when I look back at what I have achieved. Not sure whether to leave the path in dirt or to cover it something. Any ideas?

    Reply
  6. Derek Yarnell says: February 23, 2015 at 12:07 am

    Some beautiful examples. I am linking to you in a post of my own on paths. 🙂

    Reply
  7. Anonymous says: July 16, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    Beautiful, and inviting. Thank yoi

    Reply
  8. PAWEŁ says: May 19, 2020 at 1:34 pm

    Duży szacunek dla ludzi, którzy potrafią,tak pięknie dbać o ogrody.

    Reply
  9. Judy B Tew says: July 2, 2020 at 8:58 pm

    Absolutely love your website. I am looking forward to all your good ideas to come.

    Reply
  10. Karen Rieger says: January 15, 2021 at 10:40 pm

    Hi Erin. I’ m new to your blog having just discovered you within the past few weeks. Love your videos and am anxious for Spring. In the meantime I’ll just have to take my inspiration from you and your garden. Thank you for your informative and entertaining videos.

    Reply
  11. get demat says: February 15, 2021 at 9:59 am

    waw your garden are so beautiful

    Reply

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The Impatient Gardener

Do you love gardening? Me too! I'm Erin and I garden in Southeastern Wisconsin, zone 5. The Impatient Gardener is all about real-life gardening: the good parts, the bad bits and even the funny stuff. It's part information, part inspiration and a little bit commiseration. Thanks for visiting.

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Last night we stopped at my parents’ house and it looked like a snow globe outside. As we were leaving the snow stopped and the sun came out. It was absolutely beautiful. 

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It’s really not uncommon to have a bit of snow here this time of year (and it’s my mom’s birthday so we tend to remember what the weather is like this specific day) but it still is a bummer. The good news is that it will be gone soon and Odin was happy about it. We never got really warm temps so a lot of my plants are not up yet and most things are just budding, so I’m not worried about most things and didn’t take any protective measures, but I know a lot of you are in a different situation. Hope all manages it fine in your gardens. 

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Yep, still love Amsonia hubrectii. In fact I’m adding more to the garden this year. I can’t get over that texture. That’s Cotinus (purple smokebush) in the back and one of @casteglass birds “flying” above. 

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Well, I’m still going back to the well of old pictures because there’s not a lot to show right now. I am one tired gardener this Monday. I gardened nonstop this weekend. And while these long gardening days don’t offer a lot of immediate gratification it’s views like this that make that work worth it. And when I look back at pictures like this I realize that whatever you can get done in the garden is worth it. And what doesn’t get done will be forgotten about when you enjoy a view like this. 

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