I used a plastic form, mixed up cement and laid a curved walkway along the edge of what has evolved into a full shade bed north side of my house. I'm growing hardy geranium from seed and will plant them along the edge of the walkway opposite the hostas.

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Next I used the hundreds of patio bricks I dug up everywhere to lay a walkway behind the garage with beds on either side that I'm gradually filling with winter sown perennials. The fence is also repurposed from another area of the garden where it was simply decorative. Now it stands at the top of a short, very steep hill.

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Gardenweed, your walkways are gorgeous!

gardenweed,

Thank you for the pictures. I don't know which path I like best. I love the repurposed fence along the brick path and love the view beyond it. You did a great job and it's all lovely.
The path on the left is for the lawnmover to go from the front yard (where it won't be needed) to the back. You can see the lovely yard art (dbl gas meter) & in front of it the water meter, both of which will be in beds. I'm not sure yet what I will do to help hide the gas meter because if I leave the path curved like that that there isn't alot of room to plant something tall in front.

I cut old carpet I had pulled from the house when I moved in to lay out the paths. To the right & back of the "art" you can just make out the stepping stone path which goes through beds from the front door around to the back. The lawnmower path joins it just behind the chimney and they will enter a gate. The stepping stones will be coming up (going in back) and carpet laid and mulched over. The next pic will show another path almost finished. To the right you can see more carpet laid for part of another path. That is what I don't like. I just can't seem to join to the main paths in a way that pleases me.
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This is the path from the front to the drive. I had the tree trimmers drop a load of mulch and I am spreading it on all the carpet paths. In another week or so when it has compacted better I will add the dark mulch (that you can see a little of) on top.
I need paths branching off all the main paths and that's where I am having a problem laying them out in a way I like.
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My paths are grass. Your idea of carpet is a great idea.

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plantmaven, I always love seeing pics of your beds. They inspire me as do so many others here. What do you have lining your beds? I know I must have read it in another post. I'm going back to your post where you started laying out your front for more ideas on path placement.

I just went out and rearranged two beds into one longer one and like it much better.

Many years ago I had an area rug that got ruined and DH carried it out front for trash pickup. I had a grassy area in back where I wanted a flowerbed so I laid the carpet there and covered it with mulch. After it had done it's job I moved it to another area and later still another. It is easy to lift corners and compost under. And for paths it's perfect because it stays put. It can be a booger to cut though.

You could plant star jasmine on some structure (short fence, obelisk, trellis, etc.) in front of the meters. We did that to hide the trash and recycle cans.

Thanks natal & sandi_w. When I first moved in, that area on the north side was nothing but weeds, ferns, rusted metal, scrap wood and lily-of-the-valley. Since it's the first view of the property driving down the road, I tackled it first. What you see in the above photo has taken me 6+ years to accomplish.

I used a sketch pad to draw what I had in mind, then started planting the hostas. For contrast I added brunnera, Japanese painted fern, astilbe, carex/sedge, hellebore, lady's mantle, coral bells, Virginia bluebells, columbine, snakeroot, toad lily and white bleeding heart.

I take a lot of flower portraits because the beds were under construction for so many years.

Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba'
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Brunnera macrophylla/Siberian bugloss 'Jack Frost'
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Black snakeroot grows to a good size + is hardy to Z8 and might be something to consider to hide the gas meter. It's pretty slow growing but I love the fact it blooms late in the season when there's not much else going on in the garden.

natal, Is this the Star Jasmine you're talking about? Trachelospemum jasminoides. I did a quick search and think it might grow too large for the area, but I love the idea of a trellis in front of the meter. I have been looking at trellises whenever I shop and can't believe I didn't think of one for there.
gardenweed, Black Snakeroot won't work for me because it requires shade & my meter is in full sun. You have done a great job. It is always everchanging isn't it? Your pictures are just lovely. I hope my yard looks half as nice in 6 years.

Sandi, thank you for such a nice compliment.

The former owners had put a lot of bricks around the central bed in a starburst pattern. We put one layer around each front bed. The old man who trims for me said he would cover them with cement. Then he brought me more and more bricks from other jobs he was working.
It was around $250 to $300 to do the work. He put down a cement base under each brick and covered it all with more cement.

Kathy

Kathy, I like the bricks covered in concrete. I'm going to have to buy whatever I decide to use, either bricks or large rocks. I used rocks at my last house and had thought about bricks here, but rocks will probably be more economical. I have 3 main paths now and two are completely mulched and will finish the 3rd tomorrow. Still working on the placement of the other paths.

Sandi, yes that's the jasmine.

Our trash and recycle bins are stored behind these jasmine vines. The structure they vine on is 3' tall. The two vines now grow to a height of about 45".

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I have gotten bricks from construction sites. With permission, of course.

But I was a lot younger then.

natal - that jasmine is absolutely gorgeous. I obviously can't grow that in my zone but imagine it's very fragrant as well as beautiful, yes?

sandi_w - I edged the far end of the bed in my first photo with rocks but wasn't happy with how it looked so last year I pulled all the rocks away and replaced them with alternating plants of low-growing Japanese sedge/Carex 'Ice Dance' and Alchemilla mollis/lady's mantle. I spaced them 20" apart. I liked the effect because it just looked more natural than the stones.

Here's the edging right after I planted things
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You can see part of the edging on the right in this shot
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After I took that picture, I edged the bed with something I think is called a half-moon edge tool? Anyway, the edge is much more defined now. Also, the lady's mantle were late-season BOGOs from a local farm and really small so they hadn't grown large enough to make an impact.

The J. sedge divisions were all from my single original plant which apparently loves being dug up, whacked into multiple pieces and replanted. I divided it into 9 pieces, gave two to my daughter and the other 7 got planted along the edge in the photos.

Gardenweed, it smells heavenly right now. I also have it on the wood fence on both sides of the house.

I planted lady's mantle in my mom's northern Indiana yard years ago. It grew big pretty fast. I never saw it in bloom. Our visits were always in the fall.

natal, First of all, I'm in some serious fence love here. LOVE your fence!

Does it take much pruning to control the size of the jasmin? Does it send out runners? It sure doesn't look like the size hog I thought it was. You say you have 2 vines so how long is the structure they're on so I'll know how many I need? How strong a structure does it need? Thank you for posting the pic and info.

Sandi, thanks! We splurged on the wrought iron fence. It's only on each side at the front of the house.

The structure under the vines is 8' long. It's actually panels of the same fence we used in the kitchen garden ... the one that rusted out so bad. So far these panels are holding up. Some day I'll probably replace with cast aluminum.

The jasmine doesn't produce runners. I've never done a thing to it. Planted it 3 years ago. We dug out a small section of the shell driveway extension to create the planting bed. I wasn't sure how it would do, but it's thrived.

On the north side of our house it's growing in my neighbor's yard on her side of our fence. It topped the fence years ago. I occasionally trim it a little there. No big deal.

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Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Zone fencing

Back in the mid 60's I had a gas lamp on a post. We ringed the post with rabbit wire. We planted several confederate jasmines around it. I had two roses. Peace and a dark red NOID. I edged it with shasta daisies.
It smelled heavenly.

gardenweed & plantmaven, Somehow yall's posts didn't show up when I posted last. I love the sedge edging. Not sure how it would hold up with 3 grandchildren running my paths though. I need definite division to keep the 14 month old and her little wheelbarrow in bounds. Nothing keeps the 3 year old in bounds. LOL I know I am going to have to get some "Ice Dance". I really like it.

I'm too old to scavenge construction sites, but if I find any I'll surely do it anyway. A friend of mine is on the lookout for me for bricks and/or stones and fencing.

natal, thanks again for all your help. And the fence link. I'll check it out.

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Our garden supervisor is checking out the newly installed stepping stones and plantings.

This is where I ended up yesterday. If you look at my 1st pic you can see my progress. All existing paths have at least one layer of mulch. Almost through laying cardboard. Just need to buy more pinestraw to finish and dig up that row of monkeygrass with weeds.

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And what a precious garden supervisor he is. I love your path. Can't wait until I have some plants edging mine.

sandi_w - Just thought I'd pass along the fact C. 'Ice Dance' requires minimal maintenance. Just give it a haircut in spring back to about 4" and it will send up new growth almost immediately. It sends up weird-looking flower stems soon after but they sort of just disappear in a week or two. That's it, at least in Z6.

Thank you for the info gardenweed. I really like the 'Ice Dance' and hope I can find it locally. I should be ready to start serious planting by late summer or early fall.

sandi_w - if you can't find 'Ice Dance' locally, I originally bought mine from Bluestone Perennials. I believe they still sell it. The other option is I could mail a division of mine to you in exchange for postage. A few of my divisions have made babies that I'll be digging up anyway so they're yours if it comes to that. I'm pretty well 'sedged-out' at this point after all the damage from the October snowstorm destroyed nearly 2/3 of my oak trees' canopy.

gardenweed, That is such a generous offer and I really thank you for it. Just let me know when you're ready to divide and I would love some for postage. My growing conditions here range from deep shade to full sun so I know it will work.

You can email me at sandiwhitty@aol.com

Wow, Natalie. Nice path! I wish mine would grow in that beautifully.

Good work, Sandi- that's backbreaking labor.
Renee

Wow, such a lovely path. Your gardens are beautiful!
Rena'

Natal, is your star jasmine in shade?
How much sun is the one in your neighbor's yard getting?

It looks like the one in front of your trashcans gets more sun than the other one, right?

I have one deep dark corner that needs a vine.. (well I want it to have a vine.. a dense vine)
Someone suggested the star jasmine but I haven't seen any examples of one in deep shade so not sure how it would do.
This fence gets next to none sunshine --except maybe in the height of summer the last little bit of the day.

During the day maybe a little tinsy bit of filtered sun through the huge bradford.. but not enough to really count I don't think.

Melvalena, the neighbor's gets filtered sun. It's basically in a shady location, but not a deep shade.

drats! Maybe I'll get one cheap one and see how it does.

I don't blame you. The vine itself should grow fine. You may not have a lot of flowering ... then again who knows. Any way you could lighten up the corner a bit so the shade is less dense?

Can't limb or thin the tree much more than we already have. There's fence on 2 sides and the tree. I expect the tree to die in the next 5 years though. We lost the one at the far end of that bed last year.. Storms take them out and these have been here for probably about 12 years already. We've only been here for a little less than 3.

Perhaps it's a little late, but I strongly advise AGAINST using carpet under your paths. After a few years, the mulch will break down, the carpet will heave up in places and it won't look good. I speak from experience! The worst is short looped carpet. After years, the backing breaks down and the threads become long and straggly and stick out. Shag at least doesn't have long strings. After years in the ground, the dirt permeates the carpet and it weighs 3 times what it did when you put it in, and it is backbreaking work to remove.

Most importantly, though, it is NOT necessary!! A 6 inch layer of woodchips will smother any weeds. No underlay is necessary! Doesn't matter if it's carpet or black landscape cloth, there is no point in putting it down. Let me repeat, a 6 inch layer of woodchips will smother any weeds! And after about 2 weeks it will have settled and compacted to 3-4 inches.

I have done many paths, many ways, carpet, landscape fabric, stones, and woodchips. My preferred path now is simply woodchips. {{gwi:650857}}From Side Garden in July
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gottagarden, Your pics are so pretty. I hope my paths are surrounded by as much beauty as yours one day.

I've been using carpet under pathes for years now and never had any problems. I have to top dress path mulch every year on all of my paths with or without carpet.
To me, the paths with carpet underlay require less top dressing and there are less weeds. Yes, when the carpet is really settled in it can be a pain to remove.

I have never heard of carpet use. From my experience - cardboard does the job, covered by any topping you prefer. I got rid of my bermuda grass this way.
Gottagarden - your gardens are beautiful.