The details are not the details; they make the design, so said Charles Eames. This viewpoint doesn't just apply to furniture or interiors; it applies to all elements of your home, both inside and out, including garden paths.
A garden path is part of the exterior hardscape, so it should ideally blend sympathetically between the architecture of your home and the landscape. Materials or styles that stand out for the wrong reasons can look uninspiring, unappealing, or worse, ugly.
Whether you're planning a new path, or would like to upgrade an existing one, there are some aspects to consider that will ensure your walkway isn't just a basic route from A to B, but a refined part of your garden design.
"Although not the key design feature of the garden, paths are an important structural element that should be thought out properly and constructed with sympathetic materials to a high standard in order to look premium," says landscape designer Paul Studholme, founder of The Plant Hunter.
"There are many different materials used for paths, some better than others, and in my line of work, I see a lot of poorly executed examples."
Don't let your path be one of the latter. Discover the tricks that landscape designers employ to ensure a walkway enhances an outside space.
Paul has been passionate about plants since he was a teenager. For the last 30 years he has designed gardens for his clients, where plants are the stars of the show, specifically selected to complement hardscaped areas, to create a natural, plant-focussed haven.
1. Choose Beautiful Materials That Endure
Manoj used large hexagonal limestone slabs to add a dynamic feel to this garden path
Selecting good quality materials, such as natural stone slabs or clay pavers, that are sympathetic to the exterior, style, and period of your home, is the first step in ensuring your garden path whispers understand luxury.
Aside from looking beautiful, stone is hard-wearing and will retain its beauty for a lifetime. Clay pavers are an attractive option that also offer looks and longevity, while encaustic tiles are popular for front paths on period properties, but will need to be non-slip, frost-proof, and sealed.
"Choosing materials that will stand the test of time is key for a path to look premium," says landscape designer and author of Your Outdoor Room, Manoj Malde. "Using the same material throughout the garden will also create a cohesive look and make a small space feel bigger."
The shape, size, tones, and layout of the slabs will form another key part of the overall impression your path will create. In a modern garden, Manoj recommends looking beyond the ordinary.
"Limestone with its natural fossilization, cut into hexagonal shapes, brings dynamism that squares and rectangles simply cannot," he says. "Unconventional shapes energize both the path itself and the planting borders they frame."
However, do also consider the practicalities as well as the beauty of materials to be used outside.
"If you live in a cold, wet climate, select materials for paths (and patios) that are suitable for your garden environment," says Manoj. "Tiles and slabs with highly polished surfaces will become slippery when wet. Exterior surface materials should have an R10 or R11 slippage rating, so confirm this with your supplier. Also check that materials are frost-proof."
These sandstone slabs from B&Q have natural tonal variations, beautiful veining, and a riven finish for a distinctive path design.
Manoj Malde is an award-winning garden designer, TV gardener and author of Your Outdoor Room. He is also an RHS show judge, RHS ambassador and Chelsea Flower Show medalist. Manoj is highly skilled at combining colours and textures with planting schemes and attributes his love of colour to his Indian ancestry as well as his background in the fashion industry.
2. Soften the Edges With Planting
An abundant selection of plantings enable this path to blend beautifully into the landscape
"Always soften the hard edges," says Manoj. "Let planting drape gently over the path's boundary, blurring the line between stone and garden." An excess of hardscaping materials in any garden can make a space look lifeless and uninspiring. It can also increase puddles and flood risk, as rainwater can't easily drain away.
To ensure a hardscape path doesn't dominate, landscapers ensure there are adequate amounts of planting between paths and patios and around the edges. This creates a good balance between the living and non-living elements in an outdoor space, increases permeability, and enhances the appearance of pathways.
"Plants always improve the aesthetics of a garden path," says Paul. "By using ground cover and clump-forming edging plants, the path becomes softened and feels more fitted, blending in with the garden as a whole."
Paul likes to do this by adding one continuous bed along one, or both, sides of the path, with plantings the whole way along. "Alternatively, a series of smaller beds artistically shaped in key corners or curves will also improve the appearance of the path," he says.
"For a sunny path, good plants to use would be Erigeron, Knautia, and Carex. The first two are loose and natural-looking to break hard edges, and the Carex provides structured mounds with evergreen foliage," Paul says. "For a shady pathway, use Hakonechloa to spill over the edges, Tiarella for some color and contrasting leaf, and fill in with any variety of ferns such as Dryopteris and Polystichum."
This Carex evergold from Crocus loves the sun and would make a beautiful border beside a pathway. If your path is in a shady spot, try the Tiarella 'pink skyrocket' from Amazon for a burst of color. This Hakonechloa from B&Q loves rich, fertile soil and would create a beautiful emerald green carpet along a walkway.
3. Stagger Slabs
Staggering the slabs takes this garden path from ordinary to exceptional.
In a small urban garden, it may feel like your walkway options are limited due to space constraints, but landscapers have a number of ways to make slabs look elegant and beautifully integrated, even in compact outdoor spaces, like this design by landscaper James Lee.
"Even a straight path can become something exceptional," says Manoj. "Mix and match materials — stagger slabs or planks to create movement and flow, grouping some and laying others as singles."
"Keep the gaps wide and fill them with gravel contained by a crisp metal edge in corten steel or galvanized metal. Into those gaps, plant thyme or Mexican fleabane. These low, spreading plants soften the hardscape, add seasonal interest, and transform a simple path into a living composition."
Leaving gaps between large slabs and filling them with gravel or walkable groundcover plants not only looks gorgeous, it also creates permeability, so it can prevent a slippery garden path too.
These ice blue gravel chippings from B&Q would complement a pale grey stone pathway, while this pretty, low-growing Fleabane from Thompson & Morgan would look lovely growing between paving slabs.
4. Create Winding Journeys
Laid in a non-rigid formation, these large slabs sympathetically connect the property exterior with the garden
Striking the right balance between the amount of hardscaping materials and trees, shrubs, and plants is key in any successful modern garden design. Yet, it's not just an excess of stone, slabs, or tiles that can make an outside space look sterile, too many rigid, straight lines can too.
To prevent this from happening — and to ensure a path looks integrated and visually appealing — our landscape design experts like to create a more engaging experience by keeping the width generous and adding twists and turns.
"Winding routes create naturally shaped planting borders that emerge alongside the path, giving you the canvas for rich, layered plantings that connect you with nature," says Manoj. "The path becomes a journey — one that offers moments to stop, linger, and take in the beauty around you. Gardens are not about the hardscape. They are about the plants."
These grey porcelain pavers from B&Q are 900 mm x 600 mm, so offer a generous width and modern style.
5. Install Edging
Edging provides a finishing touch to a pathway and can help to keep soil from flower beds contained.
While it's important for a garden path to add to the aesthetics of your outside space, it provides a practical purpose, so it needs to be safe to use, too. Another idea that our landscape garden experts like to employ is to install landscape edging. This not only increases the visual appeal of a pathway, it provide a physical guideline and can help to keep borders contained too.
"Edging can make a path instantly look like new," says Paul. "You can even reshape it a little whilst installing the edging and hide any ugly old edges, if necessary."
To do this, Paul recommends installing edging that is around 70mm above the existing path height. "I would recommend a steel edging that goes rusty," he says. "These look great, are pretty easy to install, and the rusty patina blends in well with the nature around."
This corten steel edging from Amazon already has a beautiful patina and is super-easy to install. Edging can either be used as a finishing touch to improve the appearance of an existing path, if it's in good condition. Alternatively, if you would like to cover an old or unattractive path, it can become a retainer for a layer of new stone chippings.
"To dress an old path, lay a membrane over it to prevent weeds coming through, then spread a 50mm layer of stone chippings over it all," says Paul. "For a higher-end look, go for either a self-binding gravel or Cotswold rounded chippings. I'd avoid slate chippings and 20mm gravel, they always look a bit cheap and are not particularly attractive either."
This weed control membrane from Thompson & Morgan can be cut to size and used under garden paths.
Armed with the advice above, it's pretty easy to take a garden path from practical to premium. Whether you're laying a new one or upgrading an old one, think about the details, from materials, size, and layout, to spacing, edging, and planting — and remember integration into the landscape, rather than detracting from it, is the best way to make a garden look expensive.
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