Get Inspired by These Inviting Garden Paths

Creeping thyme (Thymus praecox arcticus) grows from 2- to 3-inch gaps between sandstone pavers in this garden in Old Snowmass, Colorado; in summer, it’s covered with small pink flowers. The path, whose pavers are set on a 4-inch layer of compacted sand, leads to a kitchen garden. A standing stone and boulder benches—made of Comanche Moss sandstone and flanking the path—echo the shape of the distant Elk Mountains.

Design: Richard Shaw, Design Workshop, Aspen, CO (designworkshop.com)

Bands of thyme running between 2-foot-square sand-washed concrete pavers stripe a winding path in Alamo, California. The bold look adds structure to the blowsy backyard meadow of tawny Carex testacea grasses, accented with pink ‘Maori Chief’ phormium and yellow kangaroo paw.

Design: Stefan Thuilot, Thuilot Associates, Berkeley (thuilot.com)

In Aspen, pavers of Colorado buff sandstone form a trail across this Kentucky bluegrass lawn to a grove of aspens. Set low enough for a mower to pass over them easily, the pavers were placed atop a base of compacted sand. Then the sod was planted around and between them.

Design: Kurt Culbertson, Design Workshop, Aspen (designworkshop.com)

Decomposed-granite steps edged with concrete nudge this path upslope in a backyard in Portola Valley, California. Because the steps taper from 8 feet wide at the bottom to 3 feet wide at the top, they appear to cover more ground than they do. (A Cor-Ten steel wall enhances the effect; from a 4 1/2-foot base, it shrinks to 2 feet high at the top.) Dasylirion and dwarf lavender line the path.

Design: Stefan Thuilot, Thuilot Associates, Berkeley (thuilot.com)

Bluestone pavers traverse this water feature in Alamo. The designer attached them to concrete pillars built into the bottom; each one is cantilevered 4 inches out from its pillar. The dark Mexican pebbles lining the pool and the dark-hued pillars make the water more reflective. The fountain in the foreground is made from an old millstone, polished smooth on top.

Design: Stefan Thuilot, Thuilot Associates, Berkeley (thuilot.com)

Plant low grasses or perennials along your path. Lavender and golden Mexican feather grass spill onto the gravel walkway at left, while creeping thyme peeks out from beneath them. Other billowy path edgers include Acorus gramineus ‘Ogon’, blue fescue, Carex albula ‘Frosty Curls’, Japanese forest grass, lamb’s ears, and sage.

Design: Margie Grace Design Associates (gracedesignassociates.com)

A flagstone path in Pasadena leads through a garden underplanted with New Zealand flax shrubs and grasses.

Blue-leafed groundcovers create a delicate tracery between pavers.

Grass circles appear to float on a river of black pebbles that winds through a grove of bamboo in Malibu, CA.

Design: Mia Lehrer and Associates, Los Angeles (213/384-3844), for Lee and Carmen Ritenour.

(Fouquieria splendens)

Native to: Southwest

A decomposed granite path passes through a fence and gate made from ocotillo. The winding walkway invites exploration of more of this casual low-water landscape.