This week our guest blogger is Helen Yoest, owner of Gardening With Confidence.  Helen Yoest is a gardening coach, stylist, writer, speaker and expert.

As a garden writer, she has written for Better Homes and Gardens, Nature’s Garden, Fine Gardening, and Carolina Gardening.  As a field editor for Better Homes and Gardens and their special interest publications, she scouts great gardens as well as presents her work to Martha Stewart Living, Architectural Digest, and other noted publications.

She travels as a  garden speaker to both motivate and teach other enthusiasts on the art of gardening and design.  Her Gardening With Confidence gardening coach service assists clients with all levels of gardening experience to create the design they desire.

This week she is using her wide array of expertise to explain the importance of garden paths and how they can best be created and used.

A journey down the garden path is poetic and practical.

Paths play an important role in the garden. More than a map through, paths fill a void in the garden, particularly in the winter, give sturdy passage, and invite you into the garden.

Chances are, you’ll know where to put a path. Over time, a path will make itself. Cut across the lawn enough times to smell the roses and you will begin to see where a path may go.

Casually sketch your house and garden. Map out where a path might lead. Adding curves will slow the pace and reveal the garden slowly.

Know the purpose of the path and how it may be used. This will help plan the width and path material considerations. Will your path be used by two to journey though or is it for easy access for the wheelbarrow?

Here are five materials to consider when planning a path:

Gravel and Other Loose Material Gravel paths are ideal for budget conscience homeowners. They also provide traction and allow for good drainage. Gravel looks nice too and the sound of the crunch is somehow
reassuring as you journey down the garden path. In more informal areas, paths made of mulch, such as wood chips and bark, will define an area. Paths made from these materials are best in areas not traveled with bare feet.

Brick Brick is probably the most versatile material to use in creating garden paths. Complementing most home styles, brick can be laid in many different patterns and can also accept a gentlearch. Set in sand or mortar, brick is equally suitable for a passage to the front door as it is for a service area. Remember, paths made of brick in moist, heavily shaded areas can retain moisture and form moss, creating a slipping hazard.

Pavers Concrete pavers for paths offer the consumer many options in design. Available in noninterlocking
styles with smooth edges, and interlocking styles with patterned edges to allow the pieces to fit together like a puzzle, as well as, unique shapes needed for complicated patterns. There are circles, hexagons, squares, triangles, and of course, rectangles. Pavers can be laid in sand or mortar making their use versatile and
with many choices to match to your home’s style.

Stone Flagstone and cut stone tile lends a more formal feeling to a garden path. Flagstone is a natural choice to compliment garden plantings. The available colors are naturally subtle, resulting in restful looking paths. Flagstone can be laid in sand or mortar, but if thick enough, flagstone works well laid directly on top of leveled ground. Cobble stone, fieldstone, river rock, and other irregularly shaped stone lend a more relaxed look to the garden path. The use of various sizes in the design allows for some very creative patterns.

Wood Wood can be used as raised decking in the garden or as an edging to other path materials. Boards can be positioned widthwise to visually slow movement or lengthwise to provide a sense of forward movement. A level path can be constructed with wood to line out the dips and valleys irregular surfaces. Left natural, stained or painted, wood lends itself to just about any home style.

Digging Deeper The path width is best determined by its use. If the passage is to only be used as a service area, such as a path from the front yard to back yard, enough space to allow the passage of a single person is all that is
needed; therefore, a width of 2 – 3 feet will be plenty. If the path width is needed for two to travel through, then a width of 4 – 5 feet is needed.

Installing your garden paths this year will be a dream come true for many years to come.

Editor’s Note: Don’t let your garden path rush people out of your pleasant scenery.  A well placed garden bench or patio chair will allow both you and your guests to have a place to stop, rest, and truly enjoy the beautiful garden around them.  If you’re feeling a little bold, try stringing a hammock just off the path for a shaded and serene escape.  Also consider having your garden path lead to more than just through the garden or to the house.  Imagine a rich and long pathway to a secret hide-away in a gazebo or cabana, or under a pergola.  Even a comfortable dining set or patio group would be a fine destination after all of your hard work.

1. Create an Entry Way

Even if your whole yard or property isn’t fenced in, it’s good to create a sense of transition from the outside world, to the whimsical home of your garden.  Guests will be put immediately at ease knowing that they are entering a place of tranquility and hospitality.  Most people spend a lot of time decorating their front doors to give their visitors the same feeling, so make sure to do it with your garden as well.  A good way to create an entry way is through the use of arbors or gates.

Choose a flat top or arch top arbor to fit your personality and vine it with colorful and eye-catching plants.  This wide array of climbing color will immediately spark your guests’ interest, inviting them in to see what else your home carries.

A gate can be another way to transition visitors from the outside world to your garden.  If your yard is fenced in for privacy or pets, an arbor with an attached gate will allow you to keep your garden and lawn enclosed, while giving you plenty of space to vine plants and flowers.  Remember that no small touch in your garden will go without notice, and though we should not judge books by their covers, your entry way will set the tone for the entire journey through your yard.  A rusting metal gate will not welcome people in like a friendly gated arbor.

2. Plant Gardens that Work Together

Your entry way will be more interesting if you use a variety of plants; shrubs, vines, and perennials can be plotted to work together if done with a bit of forethought.  Your guests will be surveying the entry way throughout their walk, so make sure they are never bored by breaks in vegetation or jolted by sudden changes in plant life.

Variety is the spice of life, so don’t stick to one color pallet or one type of flower.  Shrubs, like the Winter Gold Winterberry, that produce colorful berries will make sure that your garden is still vibrant with interesting hues long after the flowers have faded.

If you thought you only had plants to work with, think again!  Use fragrant plants to attract wild life, such as butterflies and hummingbirds, to animate your garden and produce endless hours of entertainment.  Planting Shasta Daisies, Cosmos, and Delphiniums will be sure to invite colorful wild life.  And, to entice all sorts of birds, using an out of the ordinary bird feeder will add more curiosity to your space, while inviting the birds to come and play as well.

Make sure your entry way garden is exciting and varied to keep your visitors’ interest, but don’t allow any large breaks or sudden changes to draw the eye to one specific spot that would pull them out of the entire scene.

3. Have a Place to Gather

Having a welcoming entry way garden will put your guests into a calming mindset, eager to enjoy your tranquil space.  The cruelest trick would be to catch their every interest, then force them inside and away from all the natural beauty.  Having a porch swing, patio group, or garden bench will give you and your friends a bright spot to gather for coffee, tea, and conversation.  Folding Adirondack chairs will allow you to move your party anywhere in the garden, while heavier dining sets and deep seating will form an outdoor living room where guests will feel free to lounge and feel at home. But don’t forget, it’s not always just about your guests!  A well placed hammock or swing bed will give you the perfect spot to relax and enjoy all your hard work (without any outside interruptions!)

See You Outside! (in your entry way garden!)

Hazel

1. Feed the birds! This was mentioned before, but it’s worth bringing up again.  Many birds and small creatures are having an awfully hard time finding food in the snowy cold.  Put out birdfeeders and birdhouses full of seeds and birdfeed.  Without spending a lot of money, you can help a wide variety of creatures.  For our non-feathered friends, try putting out a piece of old plywood on the ground and spreading nuts, seeds, beans, oats, corn, or other wildlife friendly foods.  And don’t worry, your work won’t be completely selfless (though you can tell everyone how charitably kind you are), because you’ll get to enjoy a show of birds and other animals right in your own backyard! Note: Urban Gardeners Beware, birdfeeders will work great, but plywood left out with food might be a project best left to more rural dwellers.
2. Keep an eye on your bulbs! While weather changes that create one or two warm days can sometimes trick bulbs into thinking spring is on its way, we know that frigid weather is not finished yet! So, if you see your bulbs peeking out of the soil, cover them with a thick layer of mulch and compost to protect them from the snow and ice.  And remember, this is a great way to reuse the branches of your old Christmas tree!
3. Turn your soil! Now is the perfect time to turn your soil (assuming the ground is not frozen or sopping wet).  A rich loose soil is vital for ideal gardening.  To keep it rich and crumbly in the spring, remove any grasses or weeds from the area you are planning to garden and spread two or three inches of compost or other organic matter (old Christmas Tree branches?) on top of the soil.  Then, using a garden spade or fork, break up any heavy clods to keep the soil movable.  Good garden soil should have the perfect balance of air, water, and nutrients to support a strong system of roots.
4. Prepare to work! Now is a good time to start inventorying your tools.  Make a list of tools you want to buy or replace.  Willi Galloway outlines ten basic tools every gardener needs: a sturdy hand trowel, a stirrup hoe, a square blade spade with a D-shaped handle, bypass hand pruners, a garden fork, a leaf rake, a bow rake, a hand cultivator, a wheelbarrow or garden cart, and a hori hori knife, which is a serrated Japanese garden knife used for dividing plants, making furrows, and weeding.  In a few months, many garden supply stores will start jacking up prices.  But, if you start early and plan well—you won’t have to spend a lot of money to have the proper tools for your garden.
5. Prepare to Enjoy! So, you’ve helped the animals, you’ve protected your bulbs, you’ve turned your soil, and you’ve prepared your tools.  Now– help yourself.  It may seem like the warm weather will never come… but just as we have to work hard to prepare to… well… work hard, sometimes there are simply delightful tasks to prepare us to enjoy our gardens.  You envisioned the different vegetables and flowers you will grow in the “just right places” as you turned your soil, and you planned which plants will get the most use out of each tool.  But, have you taken time to arrange your patio furniture?  A garden can be more than just plants: add a garden bench, rocking chair, or porch swing for a small place to sit and enjoy your hard work quietly.  Consider a picnic table, outdoor dining set, or patio group if you’re hoping your whole family will come out and enjoy the beauty over the spring and summer months.  And, if you’re planning a garden so wonderful you could practically live in it… a gazebo, cabana, or pergola would be the perfect structure for your outdoor parties and afternoons to revolve around.  And, unlike jeans… garden structures and furniture are FUN to shop for!

See You Outside!

Hazel