“Some men like to make a little garden out of life and walk down a path.” – Jean Anouilh
There is something undeniably charming and wistful about garden paths. Creating a unique and decorative walkway can boost the visual appeal and beauty of your outdoor space. And a nicely designed walkway can also add value to your home’s landscaping.
Thinking about Design and Walkways
Walkways can add a significant element to your outdoor landscape design without a huge budget or a great deal of labor. In fact, many walkway designs lend themselves to a DIY approach although there are many other design ideas that are better installed by experts.
Like any other landscape element, whether that’s plantings or hardscapes, the design and materials used should complement the architecture and style of your home and property.
Materials for Your Walkways
In addition, you should carefully consider the materials used in your walkways. These can be anything from bricks to cobblestones or crushed rock to repurposed pallet boards. However, some hardscape materials are better suited for functional walkways than others, and some materials are far easier to work with, and so on.
Ongoing Maintenance
And, lastly, you should take into consideration the ongoing maintenance and upkeep that may be needed for any particular design or hardscape material. Some materials, crushed gravel or decomposed granite, for example, can require regular cleaning around the edges of your path or walkways as the rock is pushed out.
In moist or shady areas, some hardscape materials are prone to moss or algae growth, which needs to be cleaned off to prevent staining and creating a slippery walking surface.
With that, let’s look at a few decorative walkway design ideas to benefit your home landscape.
5 Designs for Decorative Landscape Walkways
As you might imagine, there are probably hundreds of variations for outdoor walkways. But there is probably a handful that are common. However, a little imagination and creative design can produce a unique and delightful decorative walkway for your home landscape.
Here are five ideas to help get you inspired:
Flagstones
These stones provide a relatively quick and easy DIY walkway idea for beginners to create a stepping stone path. Once you have laid out the course of your walkway, you can simply lay large stones on the grass to form a winding path.
A variation is to clear the sod from the walkway first and add crushed gravel between the stones once those are in place. Some people like to plant thyme between the stones to add green borders and an inviting scent. This design can be beautiful, simple, and an easy project for any landscape.
Gravel Walkway
Gravel can be had in a variety of sizes and colors. Some examples of these are:
- slate chips
- pea gravel
- crushed granite
- brick chips
- marble chips
- and many more…
While you want to be aware of the texture and how rough or smooth the walking surface will be, the low cost and ease of installation are big pluses.
One approach is to have a walkway composed of, say, crushed granite or pea gravel, and bordered on both sides with larger gravel material or river rock. Gravels of similar size and texture can also be blended for a unique look.
Patio Pavers
Pavers can be used for a more formal style walkway design. They tend to cost a bit more than rock or gravel, but they make up for the price with less maintenance and upkeep. Part of the beauty of pavers is the sheer variety of styles, sizes, and colors available.
Your paver walkway can stand on its own or you can add borders of crushed rock, lava rock, or even narrow planter strips to dress up your stately walkway. While most walkways tend to be made with smaller, interlocking pavers, using larger pavers is certainly an option.
If you have or plan to add a water feature, this can be incorporated alongside or at one end of the walkway. For those who are more ambitious with their design, a paver walkway could also lead up to, encircle, and then continue beyond a fountain, birdbath, or some other garden feature.
Brick Walkway
The humble brick can transform an otherwise “blank canvas” of lawn with a variety of walkway design options. The trick is in choosing the right style and color of brick for your overall landscape look, and in the pattern the bricks are laid.
Bricklaying patterns are numerous. A quick search online will bring up literally dozens of patterns including
- basket-weave
- diagonal basket-weave
- Herringbone
- stacked bond
- running bond
- Spanish bond
One common method of brick walkway installation involves a concrete base and mortar between the bricks. However, making a mortar-less walkway is relatively easy using bricks. Once the path is prepared and covered with concrete sand, also known as bedding sand, the bricks are laid in the sand on a flat, firm base, and anchored with an edging of wood or metal.
Getting Help With a Decorative Walkway to Enhance Your Landscape
We know the value of great landscape design so don’t hesitate to contact us for your landscape needs.
And, because we know that creating the most value with your available landscape space is important to you, we’re here to answer any questions you might have about improving or getting started on your landscape and walkway designs.
Get ready to spend more time enjoying your outdoor space with family and friends!
If you have questions, or you’d like to schedule a consultation about your walkway or landscaping project, contact the professional landscape designers and plant installers at Northview Landscaping today.
