Focusing on garden path ideas offers an opportunity to invite visitors to your backyard to go on a journey. Maybe it’s to the fire pit, or a bench, or an incredible view, or maybe it’s simply to immerse themselves in your outdoor space. So you’ll want to set the tone, perhaps with romantic planting, or rhythmically placed paving, or with a curve to invite discovery, or with sharp, straight lines for drama. 

There are many options for walkway design, but the award-winning landscape designer Claudia de Yong advises sticking to organic materials. “Gravel, sand and river rock feel best under the feet – both for animals and humans,” she says. She also recommends planting up to the edge of your path and – happily – suggests letting “a few weeds find their way into the path. This gives the garden an ‘old’, organic feeling”.

By Ellie