How To Design a Garden Path Jackson MI

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Decide if your garden is formal or informal. The formal garden is usually symmetrical, with hedges, concrete or masonry features and probably a concrete, paver or brick path. The formal garden path will be straight and wide, ending in a formal patio. The path will most likely be wide enough for at least two people to walk abreast. The formal garden path is part of the architecture of the garden.Think informal. Most of us, if we have not hired a landscape architect or contractor, have an informal garden. The informal garden path will separate two garden rooms in the informal garden. Think of your path as a way to get you and your friends through your garden. The path forces visitors to walk where you want them to go. Carefully decide how you want people to walk through your garden. Chances are your garden path will not be a straight line through your garden. It will wind and bend. The path will make people go at the speed you want them to go and end up where you want them to.Use the proper materials. If you are designing a formal path, consider concrete, pavers or bricks. Often you can build your own path, but if it demands the skill of a mason, be sure to hire one. Use natural materials for an informal path. If you have an informal garden with several rooms, several beds, garden art and whimsy, use flat rocks, pea gravel or even mulch for your path. Use flat rocks and plant creeping plants or steppables between them. If you use plant material that can be walked on, you can smell the thyme or pennyroyal between the rocks as you walk. Make a path narrow if you want one or two people abreast and want them to walk slowly. A wide path will make people hurry on through.A garden path adds interest to the garden. The path can lead people where you want them to go in your garden, past focal points and around to secret spots in the garden that delight observers when discovered. The path can define the garden.

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Author: Jan Goldfield