21 Inspiring Ideas For The Ultimate Garden Paths And Walkways

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The addition of garden paths and walkways can create a beautiful flow on your property and create a defined space so you are not trampling on your plants. These pathways are not only visually appealing but can enhance the livability and functionality of your garden.

There are many materials that you can use to create your garden pathway, including gravel, stones, brick, bluestone, concrete, wood, wood mulch and mortared paths. Our fabulous collection of garden paths below will help you to decide what will fit your gardening needs. Don’t forget to let us know which one of these ideas most inspired you and why in the Comments below!

1. A beautiful stone garden pathway leads under an arbor. The ground cover is called dwarf mondo. The roses climbing over the arbor are called “New Dawn”. (via Outdoor Creations Landscape & Design)

2. This gravel pathway meanders through a beautiful garden in Upstate New York. The plant with the orange blooms is an Azalea ‘Gibraltar’, and it is a show stopper! The tree is the Paper Bark Maple (Acer Griseum). (via Oliver Nurseries)

3. Large flagstone steps leads through this stunning backyard garden in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The flowers on the right are Astilbe. They are a great perennial, low-maintenance and with a long season of interest. The blue/purple flowers are Hydrangeas. (via Polhemus Savery Dasilva)

4. A contemporary landscape in San Francisco features a wood and yellow fiberglass ramped pathway. The exquisite grasses planted on either side of the walkway are Miscanthus sinensis, commonly known as Chinese silver grass, Japanese silver grass or eulalia grass. (via Randy Thueme Design Inc.)

5. Grass steps are the central element in a layered hillside landscape in Los Angeles, California. These steps were constructed using Korean grass planted on a custom set of steel risers. It does not require mowing! It is also not slippery and offers a unique walking experience. The pinkish grasses are called Pink Muhly Grass. (via Griffin Enright Landscape)

6. A garden path of flagstone stepping stones with ground cover between, meanders next to a Cape Cod style house. The blue stone walkway was installed with a 3-4″ concrete base. Lambs Ear is the plant on either side of the stones. Between the stones is sage and creeping or elfin thyme. (via Stout Design-Build)

7. A traditional landscape features New York Bluestone stepping stones that meander up a hillside in Northern Michigan. On average, you could expect to pay around $350 per step installed. The boulder retaining along the sides of the steps would be around $25 per square foot. Pathway lights are the Berkeley LV27-B6S from Arroyo Craftsman. (via Common Ground Landscapes)

8. This New Orleans style backyard garden features a decomposed crushed granite with a random pattern flagstone inlay. (via Stewart Land Designs)

9. New England fieldstone pavers are set in an irregular pattern to create a pathway through a woodland shade garden. The stones are set on a compacted base of crushed stone, which prevents them from settling or heaving with frost, and also lets water percolate below them. Sagina subulata, also commonly called Irish Moss grows between the rocks. In the right foreground are Hosta (large yellow leaves), Anemone (in between the Hosta), and Japanese Painted Fern (silver leaves). (via a Blade of Grass)

10. A rustic landscape in Maine features a beautiful pathway of pine duff from white pine trees. Another option is to use southern yellow pine for your pathway. (via Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design)

11. A gravel path leads the viewer around the south lawn, unfolding changing views at every turn. The path walking surface is made of 3/4″ crushed shale. The larger rocks are black basalt. (via Fifth Season Landscape Design & Construction)

12. A beautiful herb garden mosaic in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The pebble mosaic circle is approximately 24″ in diameter. (via Pebble and Co. Mosaics)

13. A private garden in New Orleans features stepping stones set into 2 to 3-inches of gravel. The ferns, which are beyond the pink caladiums, are Holly Ferns -Cyrtomium falcatum. (via Peter Raarup Landscape Design)

14. A door is built into a wall surrounding a small Asian-inspired gem of a garden in coastal Santa Barbara, CA. The fountain and pathway were placed so that the door frames this vignette. The door and frame are antique salvage. The head jamb is low, requiring one to bow their head as they enter, known as a “humble door”. Behind the fountain is a custom bamboo lattice screen. The grass growing around the rocks is Korean grass – Zoysia tenuifolia. The plant to the left of the door is a Papyrus. (via Grace Design Associates)

15. A traditional stone garden path in Bridgehampton, New York. (via Landscape Details)

16. A contemporary pathway leads down the side of a property through beautiful gardens in Seattle, Washington. The pavers (and plinths/stools) are bluestone. The grasses are Festuca glauca ‘Elijah Blue’. (via ModernBackyard)

17. A beautiful pebble mosaic walkway in Melbourne, Australia. The stones are held down in a bed of mortar with some glue added to increase adhesion and flexibility. Glue used was ‘Bondcrete’ to help cement based materials adhere to their substrates to make it slightly flexible. To fill the gaps between the stones is a charcoal grout and sealer. (via Imagine Design & Construction)

18. A beautiful Asian style landscape in San Francisco features a walkway of flagstone pavers. The ground cover is Baby’s Tears (Soleirolia soleirolii). (via Goodman Landscape Design)

19. Personalize your garden with handmade stepping stones, adding beauty and color to your pathway. A mosaic pattern could be more slippery than a rough stone, especially after your garden is watered or a rainfall. If you don’t want to make your own, try Etsy for some similar types of stones. (via Midwest Living)

20. A mosaic of gardens in Maine features wide granite slabs leading up to a farm structure. The purple spikes are Catmint, Nepata ‘Walker’s Low’. The hot pink globes in the lower left corner are Armeria maritima and the lighter pink is Dianthus. The white and deep red in the background are peonies. (via Ann Kearsley Design)