It is better to experience a garden from within.

I have many walkways through my gardens to guide the steps of visitors.

I use these paths as places to sit and work in the various areas.

I also pull hoses through on the pathways,

so I stick decorative objects in the ground along the sides to guide the hoses.

It’s so much easier to access a garden for picking, taking cuttings and cleaning

when there is a cleared out open space through it.

My yard is also hilly, so I have made paths that run horizontally

through the middle of the terraces,

so that I can work on the different elevations without climbing up and down.

These paths must be weeded and re-mulched periodically.

I have found that they require less maintenance if there is a

foundation that separates the soil from the seeds that blow in.

I use either layers of newspaper or cardboard.

To refurbish a path, I remove the stepping stones

You may find little friends live under these, so be careful.

I rake the old layer of mulch to the sides of the path.

I then rake the soil of the walkway as flat as possible.

I lay down a base made of 8 to 10 layers of newspaper or cardboard.

Sometimes I use large nails to hold the cardboard in place.

Paint these nails bright colors, so they can be found years later when redoing the path

I water this down and stomp down the cardboard to make it mesh with the soil.

I then add a thick layer of new mulch and replace the stones.

I water all this down again to help it settle.

A pathway is like a long, solid Welcome Mat to invite folks into your garden.

It also keeps those less in-tuned to gardening from stepping all over your precious plants.

I will be doing a post on how to make stepping stones in September.

Follow the FLOWER’s pathways.