My garden path
I have spent quite a lot of time this year assessing my garden, noting what has worked and what hasn’t. If we move I want to learn from my mistakes, if not there are aspects of the garden which most definitely need an overhaul. Surprisingly for someone who considers themselves a plant lover the path we added to the back garden is one of the most successful, and perhaps one of my most favourite elements. I don’t tend to like garden designs which are heavy on hard landscaping. Often show gardens at Chelsea leave me feeling cold because the expanses of sleek and sharp paving are too large in comparison to the areas devoted to planting. That’s not to say though that I don’t appreciate the importance of paths, walls, terraces and patios in a garden but it’s all about getting the proportions right. In my mind the hard landscaping is there to provide the backdrop to what should be the main stars of the show – the plants. So often though vast expanses of paving have replaced plants altogether. Over the last few months I’ve been reacquainting myself with the language of house selling. I know when I see the phrase ‘low-maintenance gardening’ in estate agent blurbs it tends to mean no plants at all and an awful lot of pink paving slabs.
Redesigning our garden back in 2008
One of the reasons why hard landscaping is so hard to get right is partly down to the cost. When we move into a house we often inherit someone else’s taste which doesn’t match our own, but budget often doesn’t allow full-scale change. Most of us have other demands on our money when we move, so digging up a perfectly serviceable but interestingly coloured patio isn’t top of our priority list, particularly if there’s an even more interestingly coloured bathroom to be removed. And so gardens end up with a hotchpotch of hard surfaces which read like a potted history of the DIY centre. In years to come Time Team archaeologists will be able to stratify our gardens – crazy paving – 60s and 70s, coloured paving slabs – 80s, the remains of decking – 90s.
When we moved into this house we inherited an expanse of inoffensive concrete slabs for a patio but the only way to get to the shed was across a patch of grass. In hindsight this blank canvas was fantastic but I spent that first winter cursing every time I slid my way to the shed to collect logs for the wood burner and trod muddy footprints across the kitchen floor. A garden path moved up the priority list pretty quickly. In fact it ended up top-trumping the new bathroom.
The garden and path in 2008 just after it had been laid
There was a lot of graph paper used to come up with the final layout of the path. It needed to provide access to the shed primarily but also to the space behind it – that place where old compost bags reside and the stumpy remains of plants which have seen better days. It also needed to provide the demarcation for the new borders. Beds need to be in proportion with the height of the boundary behind so they should be the same depth as the height of the fence or wall. There was also a tricky part of the garden, a shady spot under the crab apple tree. Grass hadn’t thrived there. Rather than the path go nowhere we decided to make this into a semi-circular terrace, although terrace is perhaps too grand a term for somewhere so small.
I knew what material I wanted for the path before we even moved in. I have always had a thing for old, reclaimed bricks. I wanted any path we created to look like it had been there for a while and old bricks are perfect for creating this lived-in, established look. New landscaping materials just don’t age very well. Even new bricks don’t have the depth of colour and quality of Victorian versions. The idea that we were reusing something too, rather than buying a new material appealed.
A maturing garden
From the kitchen window I look out on to the path every day and I love it. It has served its practical purpose of providing access to the garden, but has done so much more than that. It has defined the planting areas. In late winter and spring the path lets me get close to the tiny bulbs which line the path. By May voluptuous geraniums and alchemilla tumble over the edge. There comes a point in June when the plants take over and I have to shimmy my way through. Never once do I think about cutting these plants back – I love the exuberance they create. In autumn the path is festooned with leaves from the acer and liquidambar. As winter arrives the herbaceous perennials die back and the path is visible in its full glory providing structure. I’ll idly watch blackbirds scoot about eating fallen crab apples as I wait for the kettle to boil. The free-draining sandy gaps between the bricks where they were bedded in provide the perfect conditions for grasses and primroses to self-sow in among the crevices, which I then prick out and pot on. Then there are the mosses which have colonised the shady part of the garden creating a green carpet. A couple of bricks have cracked due to frost but I even like this as it again gives the garden a feeling of age.
Tumbling plants
Ultimately the path has become the backbone of the garden and I love it.
Is there something in your garden or on your allotment which has transformed the space?
P.s. I know, I should have taken more photos of the ‘before and after’. I trawled through my photo archives in the hope I’d taken more, but I hadn’t. It’s funny how blogging has changed my ideas about recording what I do with the garden. It won’t happen again!!!
wellywoman 
It’s my dream path, absolutely beautiful. I have a thing for old brick as well, there’s nothing finer, especially with plants spilling over the edges. Sadly my garden and plot don’t have anything pretty. Maybe one day… CJ xx
Thank you CJ. There is something about older bricks. I don’t know what it is and why new bricks can’t be made to look more attractive.
Good things take time. It looks fabulous!! 🌹
Thank you Teresa. 🙂
I love this brick path! Am currently thinking very hard about what type of path I want in our new garden… considering gravel, but your bricks look so much nicer. When plants self-seed between the bricks it looks artful, whereas gravel just looks messy with plants growing through it. Do you mind if I ask, was it difficult to source the bricks? Were they expensive… and was it very difficult to lay them evenly?
Jo
Hi Joanna, Thank you! I have a small gravel path at the front of the house and I know what you mean about self-sown plants. We did get someone to source the bricks and lay the path for us because we were such novices we thought we’d make a mess of it and it would take us forever. I don’t think the bricks were too hard to find, although it was nearly 7 years ago now. Local reclamation yards should have a selection. We saved some money by stripping the turf and preparing the space so it was ready for the guys to get straight on with the path. They mortared in the edging bricks to create a stable path but the rest of the bricks were simply bedded into sand. Having seen how they made the path I don’t think it would be something I would attempt myself. They have all the right equipment – cement mixer, brick cutter etc. However, if you’ve done things like this in the past I wouldn’t want to put you off attempting it yourself. It is significantly more expensive than a gravel path. Perhaps the best thing to do is to get a few quotes from landscape designers/builders. I guess it then depends on how large an area you want to cover, how the path will be used and whether you think you’ll be staying at that house for long enough to justify any expense. Hope that helps. Good luck with the new garden. 🙂
Thank you, that’s very helpful!
Absolutely love the brick path in your garden, it creates such a special feeling.
This is so beautiful! I love the slightly overgrown look, too, and hate cutting back beautiful plants! Love the after pictures ❤
Thank you! It’s funny because I like everything to be really tidy in the house because I find it hard to work otherwise but in the garden I much prefer the slightly overgrown look to anything too neat and tidy. 🙂
I love old brick paths, I think you definitely made the right choice. Well done on your recent award, very well deserved, your book is one of my favourites on the bookshelf.
Thank you so much Jo. It’s lovely to know you’ve enjoyed the book and the award has been the icing on the cake.
Gorgeous. I love the way the planting enhances the charm of the bricks and I feel like you that the more they spill over the more beautiful the combination. If you do decide to move at least you know that a brick path is one of the loveliest additions to a garden.
Hi Sue, I’d be tempted to take the path with me if I could. 😉
I agree that the hard landscaping should be in harmony with the planting. Neither is more important, sadly the hard landscaping costs a lot more than the plants so many cut corners to save money and it shows. I agree about some of the show gardens at Chelsea where the paving etc. is too much but at least it is usually well done so promotes better use of materials.
Hi Christina, I know, it is a pity that the quality of hard landscaping so often gets cut because of the budget. I’m lucky we didn’t have too large an area to cover.
Love seeing before and after shots..makes you appreciate all the hard work and heartache that came before…the final picture is so lush and colourful….. a garden after my own heart… 🙂
I do too, so I must remember to take more of them. 😉 Thank you.
We think alike – I came home with mud on the soles of my wellies once too often and then started raiding skips for old bricks to make paths between my raised beds. I think old bricks must be getting scarcer as I had a big stack of rescued bricks which have slowly disappeared when my back was turned! They’re very expensive to buy so I grab them when I see them being chucked away. I love what you’ve done with your garden; hopefully you won’t have to start again in a new house. Looks like you got lucky with the trees in your current garden as well, that’s a very nice betula!
I think old bricks are becoming harder to find. I’d be tempted to take ours with us. 😉 We were lucky with the trees. Unfortunately the birch had to go though a few years ago. It was a case of too many big trees in a small space. I was gutted but it was too dominating and planted too close to the crab apple. We’ve put in a liquidambar there and it’s looking fabulous after only 2 years, I still miss the birch though.
The hard landscaping is part of the garden skeleton and it can be difficult to get right. Your brick path is perfect, wide enough to walk down easily even when the plants overflow and attractive in its own right in the winter.
I am sure that you will be taking valuable experience to your new garden and whilst it is always difficult to leave a garden there is nothing more challenging than starting a new venture.
I know exactly how you feel, Lou. In our last house I lugged hundreds of bricks from the cellar floor (we had to lower the depth by 18 inches) and used them to make paths in the garden. I would carry 8 at a time up the cellar steps, through the kitchen and then about 40 yards to the back garden. It was a big job but looked great. Especially, as you say, when plants flopped over the edge. The people who bought the cottage off us, took them all out, along with the raised veg beds and put it all to lawn. Ho hum. Dave
I feel positively lazy – we got someone in to do the path. Great way to reuse the bricks though and it must have looked fantastic. I’m sure someone will want to take this path up too, put in grass and then whack a huge big trampoline on top of it. Maybe we could take the bricks with us after all. 😉 Lou
I just had to look up liquidambar and am surprised that you planted it instead of a birch. The liquidambar looks like it will get huge? The path does look lovely, I’d love one like it laid in a herring bone pattern, but here in Switzerland I don’t think old bricks can be found, people are not much into reclaiming or liking old stuff. And yes, congratulations on the award.
The problem with the birch is they are almost impossible to prune to keep under control without ruining the shape of the tree. Liquidambar on the other hand can be pruned and have their height restricted. The nursery where we bought the tree from had a ten year old tree which was about 3 – 4 metres. We’re obsessed in this country with old and reclaimed at the moment which is great but it does mean it’s hard to come by old floorboards, bricks etc and when you do they’re getting more and more expensive. Thank you for the congratulations. 🙂
It looks gorgeous and very neat, at the same time exuberant with plants which is what I would expect from you. How big is your garden? Mine is too large for soild paths, they would cost a fortune and wouldn’t look right in the setting, I think. But features like our pavilion and all the walls we built have certainly made a big difference.
Thank you! The garden is pretty small about 12m x 8m. If it was a bigger space we’d have probably had to think about a cheaper paving material, which would have been a pity. Love the sound of your walls. I’d love a dry stone wall with all the crevices for plants and wildlife.
You’re so right about the balance between hard landscaping and planting. If there are too many hard surfaces, I reckon it’s an outdoor space, not a garden.
I agree. I’ve seen a few places on rightmove where the entire garden has just been paved over. Dreadful!
ah, yes – we have a sad lawn (which will be leaving!) and black and white sand which is always trailed across the cream tiles. The black part has embedded itself in my gardener’s paws.
A garden path of generous paving slabs is going to be the sinuous backbone of this garden … as soon as we can!
Good luck with the path. I hope it comes sooner rather than later. 😉
A most enjoyable, and interesting, post. I really like your path using old bricks. I’m not very keen on hard landscaping at the best of times.
Re your question has anything transformed the space on the plot all I can say not really. xx
PS I didn’t have phone/internet for a week so no post last weekend. I had planned to give you, your book and well deserved award a mention, which I’ll now do tomorrow
Thanks, Flighty. We’re all so reliant on the internet it’s so annoying when it goes down. We didn’t have it for 3 weeks at one point, which is difficult when you work from home. Anyway glad to see it is all up and running again for you. 🙂 Thank you, that’s very kind of you. xx
Looks good Louise, and anyone who reads my blog knows how much I favour recycled materials in the garden – although we have also used modern paviors and imitation stone slabs. The latter are brilliant but expensive, the former cheap but do look less new new and modern after a few years. For practical people laying them is in fact and easy DIY task. I was pleased to hear about the recognition your received for your (first!) book 🙂
I love your garden and the way you have used recycled materials. We have a mix of hard landscaping too. It would have been much too expensive to lift the patio of its concrete slabs. They don’t look too bad actually but they aren’t very good quality and have started to crack. It’s funny how old materials look fine when they crack and age, newer materials on the other hand don’t. We’d possibly tackle something ourselves next time if we had a larger area to cover to save money the problem is always time. It took the guys a week. It would have taken us months doing it at weekends!! 😉 Thank you, Cathy. To say I’m over the moon is an understatement. 🙂
I meant to ask if you were now seriously looking at other properties ready for a move, or is there nothing definite yet?
I’m seriously looking but it’s all still up in the air. Everything is being dragged out and making decisions difficult. 😦
Not good to have it hanging over you like that Louise…
You are quite right about inheriting a patio you are not to keen on.
We replaced sections of ours with different slabs and bricks to break up the colours and pattern. Your path looks as if it has always been there.
Thank you Brian. That’s most definitely the look I was hoping for. We’re looking at moving and would like a slightly bigger garden but I’m very much aware of how much hard landscaping costs. I like the sound of what you’ve done with yours. It’s about making the best of your space for the budget you have. 🙂
Your garden path is fabulous. I love the way the plants have grown and spill over the path. Sadly I live in a rented property however I’ve known the owner for many years and he’s given me free reign in the garden. I’ve been slowly clearing and changing things and my plan is to add a couple of paths made with red gravel (scoria). I’ve purchased a couple of bags of this at my local hardware store but its an expensive way to buy it as I need quite a bit more and am also planning to use it around my raised garden beds. Will have to see if I can source some at a better price.
Very beautiful path, absolutely lovely 🙂 Well done 🙂