Thanks to all for the good suggestions! Current state of the project area: The former herb garden along the east edge of the yard behind the house has been dismantled! All of the often used herbs (oregano, parsley, cilantro, basil, thyme, rosemary) have been moved to the small bed just west of the back door. This will end up being a pretty densely vegetated bed, but that usually helps keep down the weeds. :) Slipped a few flat stepping stones between the plants for ease of harvesting. I love it! No need to even put on shoes to get fresh herbs! Chives are in front of the (not often used) air conditioner unit. Some of the bigger herbs (lavender and sage) are a little further away--just past the a/c, but making a nice little border connecting all of the herbs together. Some of the other herby plants (hyssop, rue) have gotten moved into other spots around the yard. Now that the herbs are relocated, I've spent a lot of time staring at that area between the back of the house and garage. We do want to make this into a patio area, flagstone (with creeping groundcover and smaller stone in the gaps), with the BBQ grill closer to the garage along the fenceline. One of the remaining issues with this area is the need to adjust the grade. Currently, the level of soil next to pond and under the flagstones from the back door to the garage is slightly elevated--which impedes water from draining quickly away from the foundation. Luckily, the elevation drops again near the fenceline, and definitely sloping down to the narrow section next to the garage and into the alley. This will definitely be a big project, removing the right amount of dirt and leveling it. It also has the additional issue of being infested with bindweed, so I'll actually need to get rid of this dirt entirely (for which I don't yet have a good strategy). Plus the expense of a large amount of flagstone. The other issue, which I haven't mentioned before--is the wretched state of the neighbors privacy fence all along this east edge of the yard. It's definitely falling to bits at this point, but I'm fairly certain that it's repair or replacement isn't high on their list. Sigh. All that being said, it looks like the narrow section path of the yard may again be shelved for another year. But small strides are being made. I've moved the shrubs from the back corner of the house to better spots. I'll probably continue with rearranging the current plants in this area this year, in preparation for finishing up the stepping stones and groundcover here next year--hopefully! I love the idea of some sort of arch/gateway towards the front of the path area, which will help break up the very tall and narrow aspect. Maybe also a bench near the porch, to make this part of the yard more visiting friendly. thanks again, and if there's any more comments suggestions...especially about any good tricks for aiding with the grade/drainage and getting rid of "bad" dirt...

craigslist in your area lists free bricks, and if you keep an eye on it, from time to time, i bet someone will have pavers. http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/zip/ http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/zip/2418781475.html Also, agree, that you can make your own with concrete mix and have some fun with it. Is your pathway in sun or shade or both? I have used wood chips on mine, and love the look of it. I have three such pathways. Now, as for walkability, that would be a personal preference. If it gets a lot of use, pavers or concrete stones that you make are the best bet. If light traffic, thyme is a great idea, as well as several other plants. Someone has even made a business of this: http://www.stepables.com/ Have fun with this project! I bet it will look great when you are done. :-)

I've noticed your post for several days, so I guess no one here has experience with oyster shell paths. Have you checked with the folks on the Florida Gardening site? You may find some responses there. Cheers, Cameron

I have always tilled, but this year I am going to try a garden without tilling. However, it has taken me several years to get to this point and I still don't know if my ground is ready for this, but it has been covered with leaves all winter. I don't mean a few, and although it has packed down some, they went on at least 6-8 inches thick. Some were mulched very fine and some not so much. I also plan to add compost to the surface. I had some areas near the fence that had lots of roots and not very good soil. I grew cherry tomatoes there this year and had cardboard mulch around them. I put bricks on the cardboard as I was placing it, then put on tomato cages and anchored them down. I ran out of mulch before I got some of the cardboard covered and since my neighbors would have to be standing at the fence to see it, I didn't worry too much about it. Once the cardboard got wet it stayed on the ground and wasn't slick, but it still lasted through the season and stopped the weeds and grass from coming through. The year before, I used cardboard with hay over it and all of my squash got vine borers. It worked fine for the tomatoes and peppers, but not the squash, so I know I can't do that again. Of course, I live in a wet climate unlike many of you. I think last year by the first of June I had already gotten about 26 inches of rain. If it looks like that is going to happen this year, then I will be setting out a lot more transplants rather than planting seeds. Some years I get things planted later than I would like because it is hard to find time to till and plant because the ground is too wet. Not having to till should help with that. I noticed with my broccoli last year, the size of the heads was directly proportional to the amount of sunlight it got. I planted it in a new place and it got sun from noon until sunset, but one end got a little more. In the Summer that would have been lots of sun, but in the Spring it wasn't enough. The end of the bed that got sunshine first did much better. Cardboard is almost a miracle for the garden. It not only works as mulch to hold moisture, it suppresses weeds and more importantly shades out grass, and the worms love it. It must create perfect conditions for them. On the other hand, it is ugly and needs to be covered. I hate to use dangerous chemicals in the garden and most years I don't even think about them. Last year my DH burned out a few things with a torch, but if I didn't have such a wet spring, I might not feel that was safe to do. We have been trying to remove some growth from the chain link fence and that just seemed to be something else to try. I try to be very careful what I use in the garden, but as I was enlarging the garden, I did use Round-up to kill the grass. Then after I planted in it I used cardboard. I have grown Spring crops with and without mulch and I am just as happy without it. I plant them pretty close and they shade the ground around them. I usually start mulching when the tomatoes and peppers go into the ground. I have to do it when I plant them because very soon they are so crowded that I can barely walk through to harvest and I wouldn't have room to mulch then. I have bought several types of landscape fabric and none were worth bring home. LOL I guess there are some good ones out there, but I never find them. I eventual use the mistakes tho, because I usually just stretch some out on top of the grass and put the containers on top of it to keep the grass from coming up through the holes. Most years (not last year) I have about 20 containers in my side yard which is one of the few places I have full sun. That is my garden overflow. I have a walkway through my garden which is made of brick size concrete pavers. It took some time to put down but can be moved if I need to move it. After I fell on my face one winter, I decided it was necessary. The ground had been frozen and the sun came out and thawed about the top half inch. I darted around the end of a cattle panel and went down, and I had mud from my forehead to my toes. That Spring I built a walkway. Chandra, I think your garden is lovely, and you had more weather issues than any of us last year and you still had a harvest. I would not want to fight the grass and in your case, I think I would use a chemical to kill the grass. Then I would try to find the 'good' landscape fabric like Dawn uses and put it between the paths. I would then order a load of sand and put on top of it. That would be a lot better for the kids to be on than gravel. You wouldn't have to worry about getting rocks in your lawn and if you ever had to sell your home, you could just spread it out if your buyer wanted turf again instead of garden beds.....and the rest of us could be there to steal the beds. LOL