Published on Friday, April 19, 2024

 

By Victoria Torley

Gardens come in all shapes and sizes. Where there is just a small area and you need a place for chairs or a play area for children, your garden may be on the edges of the area. English gardens are often like that with a long rectangular greensward and plants along the fenced edges.

If you have a larger space, you may have more than one garden with interconnecting greenswards for walking from one to another or a more formal path. The question is, what sort of path suits your garden space?

We have a fairly large property, 4+ hectares, and a lot of paths. The first is a set of 40 some concrete steps that go from the house to a long rectangle of grassy area. I was going to leave it grassy, but ended up with flowers... A path like that is easy to plan and certainly necessary as the hillside could get too slippery for walking.

Then there is the other hillside, also slippery. Over there, we cut a zig-zag path down the hill and turned it into terraced gardens. Where the straight path turns, we have a few steps up to the next path. Walking up that path is easier on my leg than walking some 40 steps but it takes a bit of time.

Then there are the forest paths through the shade garden. There are earthen paths where the land is gently sloped or flat and decorative concrete blocks where stairs are needed. My gardener (he can be a worrier) even put in railings next to the stairs.

Finally, we have lovely white stone paths through the gardens by the house. They are a great contrast to the flowers in the garden and the bright green of the grass. An edge of paving stones keeps the stone in place.

Naturally, there are other types of paths. Gravel, for example, makes and easy and inexpensive path and can be made more attractive with stepping stones. Stepping stones can be set directly into the soil and the soil areas are planted with what we call “steppables” or “walk-on” plants, low-growing plants that don’t mind the pressure of the occasional foot.

Up in Georgia, I used a lot of shredded bark for paths. It was a bit pricy but felt great underfoot especially when I went barefoot, my favorite way of gardening.

Sadly, my barefoot days are over, because there are too many thorny plants and too many fire ants for me to garden without protection. I may have given up on going shoeless, but I still love my paths.

Plant for the week.  Now you have a path (or paths) here and there. You worked long and hard on the path and the bordering plants. You need a place to rest. What could be more restful than a quiet garden bench. One surrounded by ferns. Ferns can always be transplanted and grouped elsewhere in the shade although some prefer the sun.

A perfect place to rest from your labors. Now if you just added a fountain...

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Find more amazing stories about gardening in Costa Rica on the Costa Rica Garden website. Regarding questions on this article, Ms. Victoria Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached by emailing victoriatorley1@gmail.com.