Paths that lead the way simply - garden paths

Sunset, Spring-Summer, 1996 by Peter O. Whiteley

Paths form the "skeleton" of garden design by dividing space and framing plant beds. Most important, they dictate the way people move through and around the garden. Ideally, a good pathway combines the virtues of beauty and function, taking you from one point to another in a graceful way on the surface most appropriate for the situation. The paths pictured here achieve this goal by using distinctly different surfaces - wood, bricks, and concrete.

WOOD PAVES THE WAY HANDSOMELY

Paths made of wood add natural textures in unexpected ways. The "flagstone" path shown at lower left is actually composed of slices of railroad ties set in sand and secured with mortar. Pressure-treated lumber is also a good material for framing a ground-level path. If you build one, be sure to buy lumber that's specifically developed for ground contact and stamped as such.

PATIO PAVED WITH RECYCLED BRICKS

A rich mosaic of red, brown, tan, and wine-colored bricks in different sizes gives a handcrafted appearance to the meandering patio shown on the opposite page. Combining bricks of so many styles in one surface is unusual, but so is their source. Homeowner Myron Tessler salvaged more than 1,100 bricks from chimneys that were toppled or damaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake that rumbled through his Northern California neighborhood in 1989. After cleaning the bricks of mortar, he and his wife, Cecelia, used them to build the patio.

BEAUTY OF SLATE IN A CONCRETE PATH

Though it looks as if it's made of slate, the path pictured below is actually made of concrete that was top-colored, embossed, and chemically stained. The process requires a concrete contractor experienced in this technique. While the fresh-poured concrete was still wet, warm-colored powdered hardeners were worked into the concrete, which was then textured to imitate slate. The concrete was then scored. To give the surface warm slate tones, the pathway was coated with rust, brown, ocher, and purple chemical stains.

The path was designed by Nick Williams and Associates of Tarzana, California. Concrete work was by Neil Stringer Construction, Woodland Hills.