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Square Foot Gardening FAQ

What about paths between beds?

11 years ago

The paths between your beds should be at least three feet wide. If this seems like a lot of wasted space, imagine kneeling down to work on a 1-2' wide path, or maneuvering your wheelbarrow along skinny paths without damaging your plants. Larger pathways are much more comfortable to work with, and are one of just four improvements that Mel has made on his method since his book was published over 20 years ago. (See his website for the other updates to his method.)

Your budget, your aesthetic preferences, and available materials will determine what you use for the paths between your raised beds. Here are a few ideas:

Any fancy material typically used for a sidewalk or paved garden path can be used, including flagstone paths, concrete pavers, bricks, etc. set into concrete, sand, gravel, rock screenings, etc. There are multiple sites on the Internet that give detailed descriptions of how to construct these kinds of paths.
Grass, edged along the beds with a weedeater or square-bladed shovel.
Paths made from broken-up concrete slabs (free if you're willing to scrounge) set into grass, sand, gravel, or rock screenings.
Organic materials (hay, wood chips, grass clippings, etc) over dampened cardboard boxes or newspaper. The cardboard/newspaper blocks weeds, and the whole mess gradually breaks down and will need to be replenished every year or so. One GW member rakes up the breaking-down materials and uses it as a fall/winter mulch for her beds, then places fresh materials down to start breaking down over the winter.
If you want a super-permanent path between your square foot beds, take a look at some of the nifty concrete molds available at home improvement stores. They come in many different patterns (random stone, slate and herringbone brick, just to name a few) and are quite easy to use. Depending on the design you choose, they can be used for straight or curved paths.

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They delivered 4 yards in a big dump truck. We shoveled it into a wheelbarrow and spread it from there about 2 - 3 inches deep with one of those short-tined rakes. Watering it in and walking over it compresses the rocks together and over time it compacts tightly and is great to walk on WITH shoes. The inserted stones are broken pieces of cement pavers. I broke some that I had then went to KMart where they give away their broken pieces. The color is a medium metal gray that darkens when wet. Weeds that sprout in the granite dust are easily pulled out. There is weed cloth underneath - the 15-yr kind from Lowes. It has a very tight weave. Nothing is going to come through that stuff. So glad you like it, Sammy. We're very pleased with how it turned out. We moved our Black & Decker shed last weekend so I have to get more stone to extend the path and cover a potting area. Hopefully, it will only take a yard. BTW, the dogs don't mind walking on it, but human bare feet hate it. The stones are sharp and stick in your feet. Sherry
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I'm not saying that graceful presentation is somehow contradictory to the display of a correction, far from it. But I do think that the particular style which relies on repetition of plants, etc. may not be the best suited for the purpose. An outstanding collector's garden would rely instead on a pleasing juxtaposition of elements as you mention, and as we see in the scenes from Coenosium Gardens you link to. Thanks everyone for your comments. The initial rock placement is never the final one and and I appreciate specific suggestions. Perhaps I'll start by moving the some of the smaller rocks out from periphery and accumulate them at the bottom of the bed. Moving the discussion onward, here's the list of varieties planted in the new bed (the central ellipse-shaped bed), which is approximately 32’ x 18’. Some I grafted myself, many were purchased over the past several years and maintained in containers, a few are new purchases. 41 plants in all. Groundcovers and perennial material are not in yet. Abies balsamea 'Wolcott Pond' Abies concolor 'Bryce Canyon' Abies concolor 'King's Gap' Abies concolor 'Morton' Abies koreana 'Blauer Eskimo' Abies koreana 'Blauer Pfiff' Abies pinsapo 'Glauca' Abies procera 'Glauca' Abies procera 'Sherwoodii' Acer palmatum 'Murogawa' Acer palmatum 'Tana' Cedrus brevifolia 'Kenwith' Ginkgo biloba 'Troll' Ginko biloba 'Mariken' Larix kaempferi 'Bambino' Picea engelmannii 'Bush's Lace' Picea glauca 'Eagle Rock' Picea omorika 'Pimoko' Picea omorika 'Wodan' Picea pungens 'Blue Pearl' Picea pungens 'Mint Julep' Picea pungens 'Sharp Cheddar' Picea rubens 'HB' Pinus aristata 'Joe's Bess' Pinus banksiana 'Wisconsin' Pinus densiflora 'Edsal Wood' Pinus flexilis 'Blackfoot' Pinus flexilis 'Comanche' Pinus flexilis 'Damfino' Pinus koraiensis 'Blue Ball' Pinus koraiensis 'Gee Broom' Pinus monophylla 'Tiny Pout' Pinus mugo 'Little Delight' Pinus parviflora 'Billie' Pinus ponderosa 'Mary Ann Haecock' Pinus pungens 'Doughton Park' Pinus strobus 'Diggy' Pinus sylvestris 'Calle' Pinus uncinata 'Baby' Pinus virginiana 'Driscoll' Tsuga candensis 'Jervis' This post was edited by maple_grove on Tue, Nov 11, 14 at 12:24
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Have you thought about Synthetic Grass? Just an option i used it and it worked out great for me. It drains great and looks perfect. Contact www.turf-usa.com They will send you samples for free and you might be impressed. I used there Elite Fescue very thick and natural looking, also i looked at other compaines and they had the best price just FYI. Good Luck with it
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Very nice. Thanks for posting your photo. I very much like that the path was placed where it was needed. Sometimes garden paths are too contrived and just don't look right. Christine.
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