It looks like you don't have much room to work with so the walk abutting the house is acceptable. But using gravel does not sound like a good solution when snow removal is part of the equation. I would suggest a concrete walk. Make sure it has cross-slope that drains away from the house, and also running slope to carry the water in the direction of overall yard drainage to front or back, whichever way your lot is pitched. At the front of the house where its appearance could much benefit from a foundation planting, I'd reroute the walk farther away from the house and reconfigure the garden elements.

Given the extent of the walk, it would be better to have pros do it. Otherwise it could be done in sections as you were able. If you end up doing patio blocks in gravel, I think you'lll be unhappy with it as a snow-compatible solution and the next owner will feel like they need to undo and redo it all.

Replacement of the ADS gutter extension with a buried pipe needs to be part of the equation.

Embothrium, I used the pipe to provide water to the cedar hedge. I also have a vegetable garden and lots of perennials to water. The water bill hit a ceiling due to the long dry summer month. It is so handy to be able to move that thing around to provide ENOUGH for each tree. In the Fall, I will replace it with an aluminum downspout to direct the water away from the house. For now, I like to focus on the walkway.

Yardvaark, what is your suggestion and what will look good in terms of the starting point for pouring concrete for the walkway. I just can’t figure this part out. Should it start at the starting point of the house or take out the first flagstone and pour it from there? Could you eLaborite on what what you mean regarding the foundation planting? Thanks!

Depending on your budget ..i would look into heated walkways...

A "foundation planting" is that strip of planting that surrounds and abuts the house. Most homes have them to some degree in order to help the home look integrated into the landscape. Foundation plantings are often used to hide any unappealing looking part of the house ... such as an old fashioned foundation, thus the name. At the front of your house you have a foundation planting of hydrangeas. However, they are jammed much too tightly against the house in much too small a space. So when considering how to arrange the walk, since the existing walk does not seem to be permanent (or could easily be undone) it would be a good thing to move the walk farther away from the house front wall, as in this manner (whereas the existing bed edge is marked out with the red X ...

Also, it would be a good idea not to plant at the outside of the walk. The narrower a walk is, the more quickly it will become uncomfortable to use as it is penned in by plants. With a larger bed at the inside of the walk, there is plenty enough room for creating interest with plants. The crape myrtle is small enough to move and it should be at the outside of the walk, somewhere off of the corner. Since its bulk is overhead, it does not create the feeling of being "penned in." (It would be OK to have a small bed of low plants, such as groundcover, under the crape, since it is encountered for only a short distance.)

I don't know what you are referring to as "the starting point of the house," or as the "first flagstone" ...? A walk connects points. It would not arbitrarily start at something other than a "final destination" such as a front porch and street, back porch, side entrance, driveway, etc. Maybe ask the question referring to points on the house, such as its corner, or front or side wall. Also, you could sketch "the question" on a plan.

Yarkvaak, here is a sketch around the front of the house. I had planned to move 2 of the 4 growing hydrangea bush to the section where all the peony bushes are but it is not a good time yet. I am waiting until fall comes around. Quite honest, I wanted to move all of them out of the foundation plant zone because like you said they are overcrowding too much and it is uncomfortable to walk through once they reach full-grown. On top of that, it is abit troublesome to water them since I only have a small walkway to get through. Your diagram help answered my question already. I see your point.

Yardvaark, this is great! Thank you so much. I have a couple of more questions; do you recommend adding other barriers such as treated 4x4 wood or edging stones between the foundation planting area and walkway or can it be left as it? I guess that depends on the depth of the walkway. What is the usual depth for a concrete walkway? In terms of the big light green circle on the sketch, is that something like a bush/small tree I can place on the outer edge of the walkway? Assuming the coloured spots are low plants in those colours?

What do you mean by "depth" of concrete walk? Normally, a residential concrete slab is 4" nominal thickness (3 1/2" actual, as it is formed with 2x4 lumber.) If you mean depth as in front of walk (near side) to back of walk (far side ... both as viewed from the street (the cross-dimension of the walk), the suggestion is for 4' minimum. (If the walk is very little used, you could shrink it to 3', but I'd consider that an ABSOLUTE minimum. If it will be a lot used, you could expand it to 5'. It's all subject to your needs, and budget. But those 18" or 2' wide walks that are installed at so many homes, are substandard and drag the whole property down as they look like something that suits a mobile home or campground.

The light green circle outside the walk represents a small tree, such as a crape myrtle. The stuff showing beneath it is some kind of groundcover ... of course, continuous within the part of the bed blocked by tree canopy, that can't be seen. A small tree would not block view as the canopy would be over your head. A bush in that position, on the other hand, would seem obstructive.

Been following..and some things are not clear but i might ask ....is there that much foot traffic on the long walkway beside the house?..or do you enter the house from the back when since you park back there?...are you planning plantings between the house and the walkway along the house?...since the area is small i would suggest a wide pea gravel base from house to outer edge of walkway...adding a much wider staggered stepping stone walkway..with no flowers to water so close to the house...as they are not openly viewed from the house or the street

If you do use this walkway often during snow season ...a more solid solution may be needed

@btydrvn - Good question! It is a shorter distance from the driveway to the front of the house if I use the unfinished walkway into the house. My sister does the same thing after going grocery shopping. The times the rear walkway is used is when mowing the umpteen amount of grass or up keeping the cedar hedge as all the yard equipment is stored in the garage. I will keep your suggestions in mind but I am not even close to getting this project started. Everything starts with planning so the fact that I have the idea of what needs to be done, the execution will be fast. I will have a budget sometime after October to put in the cement since I have already changed out the side door, and next month, I will have new windows install.

Thank you so much for all feedbacks and especially Yardvaak's diagram. Thank you for answering all my questions! I will stick to putting in 4 inches thickness and probably 4 feet wide of the walkway. I am more visual than anything so having a diagram when I am ready to start this last project will be very helpful.