Using Garden Paving To Enhance Your Landscaping

By Craig Johnson

Perhaps you have the most attractive and well-designed landscape on your block. You may even spend hours fertilizing, watering, and planting beautiful flowers and shrubs. One element that can help you enjoy your well kept lawn is a garden path. This is a great addition to any lawn and something that will especially enhance a large yard area. If you love to have visitors over and show off your landscaping and gardens, a garden path will keep you from trampling over grass or getting your shoes dirty or wet. Garden paving is a project that you can tailor to your interests and desires and make it as big or as small, intricate in detail or simple as you wish.

You can choose from a variety of different material to create your garden path. More permanent materials include: concrete, stone, brick, slate, and flagstone. If you want to save money, you can use a mold to create your own concrete stones.

When choosing material, it will be important to note whether or not this will be a permanent garden path for your yard. If you plan on moving it at any point, flagstone will not be a good choice. It is extremely heavy and does not relocate well. Any other materials can be moved, although some are easier to do so than others.

If you want a semi-permanent material, one that will last but yet can be moved if necessary, stepping stones are probably the best choice for you. These are easy to move and easy to place. You can choose to place the stones close together or space them apart. You can use sand or another material to keep greenery from growing around the stones, or for a more natural cottage path look, you can encourage the growth of little vines and flowers.

If you need a very temporary material for your garden path, you could choose wood chips, gravel, stone, shredded bark, or wood blocks. This investment will be cheaper than rock or concrete, but take into account that accordingly it will not last as long.

Materials such as bark or woods chips will need to be replaced yearly and kept up with to ensure that it looks good. They will decompose after some time. If you choose one of these options, you will also need to purchase and install an edging to keep them in place. Otherwise you may end up with a garden path that has flooded all over your well kept lawn!

As you choose a material for your garden path, also keep in mind what colors you want to tend toward. The selection you make should blend in with its surroundings and compliment your home. Many materials can be installed with detailed patterns and shapes for a more elegant look. You can do some research of your own to come up with some inspiration. Drive around other homes in your area and get ideas from what others have done. Go to the library and read through the gardening section. Use the Internet as a tool to find some new ideas. There are many sources to get this kind of information.

Garden paving will enhance your lawn and bring your garden to life when properly done. Get the advice of a local contractor if you have questions; they should be happy to assist. They may also be able to recommend other special design ideas if you want to invest a little more in it than merely a garden path. - 29857

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