Up The Garden Path

There’s much more to paths than just a structure to get you from A to B. Martyn Cox explains how a path can enhance your garden or even be a feature in its own right

- Martyn Cox

I ONCE lived in a mid-terraced house that overlooked at least a dozen back gardens. The one thing that united all these plots (apart from mine, obviously) was the garden path – a slab or concrete creation that ran as straight as an arrow down the centre of the lawn, from the back of the house to a shed plonked at the very bottom.

Yet, a garden path can be so much more than a functional way to get from A to B. It can be used to direct movement, lead the eye to a focal point or to divide gardens into different areas. A path allows access to the garden in poor weather and lets you get up close to plants.

Although paths can be temporary (such as a walk through a meadow cut with a mower), a permanent one will add to the structural backbone of your plot. It can also be a highly ornamental feature in its own right, depending on the originality of the design and the materials you choose.