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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 
18 Comments

About Erin @ The Impatient Gardener

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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
  12. Linda Mitchell says: July 29, 2021 at 1:27 pm

    Just looking at the pictures made m feel lighter and happy! Thanks

    Reply
  13. Karen K says: October 25, 2021 at 8:16 pm

    Beautiful! I adore garden paths, too! I have been gathering rocks for years for several projects…my husband thinks I’m crazy! 😀

    Reply
  14. William Adams says: November 21, 2021 at 11:38 pm

    Great article! Paths are often overlooked as a landscape feature, but they’re a neat way of adding a new dimension to the landscape and opening up new creative possibilities.

    Reply
  15. Sage says: August 24, 2022 at 11:12 am

    Love, love, love the wooden stump path! We are redoing our backyard and we told our landscape architect we want a path through our garden. I will definitely be referring back to this post.

    Reply
  16. Leslie says: October 23, 2022 at 11:18 am

    I love winding walkways, preferably with greenery and flowering plants spilling over the edges. Is there a gravel/rock you would recommend that is easy on your bare feet (nobody around here bothers to put on shoes before flying out the door) if you don’t want to use stepping stones or pavers in conjunction with the gravel. Another issue I’ve had is the landscape crew, while blowing leaves off the walkways, blow half the gravel/rock along with the leaves into the flower beds. Drives me nuts! I’ve added some higher borders in some areas which has helped. Thanks.

    Reply
  17. Patricia Padilla says: April 3, 2023 at 6:59 pm

    You have an impeccable eye, as seen in this collection of marvelous pathways. It truly is the journey here that is important – not the destination.

    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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Three years ago I planted 10 ‘Royal Raindrops’ Three years ago I planted 10 ‘Royal Raindrops’ crabapple whips and then (after a gin) cut them all off about 16 inches from the ground. And so began the training of the espalier Belgian fence (no, I don’t know why it’s called that, it’s just what that form of espalier is called). It is blooming fabulously this year and in need of a few more extensions of the framework to help guide the branches but I’m thrilled with the progress it has made in a relatively short time. Video update coming soon but I didn’t want to miss showing the blooms.
I still believe that the biggest game changer in a I still believe that the biggest game changer in a garden and the single best way to make a less-than-perfect garden look amazing is a fresh edge. Weeds? Who cares. Bare spots? Nobody will know. A fresh edge tidies even the most disheveled garden right up. And even though I have a ton of planting to do, I spent a good amount of time today working on edges because it’s just that good. I use my @troybilt gas edger to cut the edge and follow up with the @sneeboer half moon edger. By the way, I’d give up my lawn mower before I gave up that gas edger. I didn’t get all the beds done but I did do the ones I see the most from the house so I can stare out the window and just think, “Damn, that looks good.”
Great diagonals courtesy of Polygonatum (Solomon’s seal) in the shade garden. Athyrium niponicum (Japanese painted fern) and ‘Dawn’s Early Light’ playing rare backup roles as the Polygonatum is allowed to have its moment in the sun … er … shade.
I love the small flowers of Epimedium. I’m grate I love the small flowers of Epimedium. I’m grateful that they bloom early in the season because their delicate blooms would probably be overlooked if they bloomed later when they would have to compete with big, brash, attention-demanding flowers in the summer garden. They are great for dry shade but they really need moisture to get established before they will get on with things.
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