Paths draw visitors through the garden. A grass path becomes the spine of a lush perennial garden, leading to a strategically placed summer-house. Once you determine the locations, widths, and paving materials for your paths, you can then see each of them as the spine of a new garden. Once you have the path in, envision it as the spine of a lush perennial garden planted on both sides of the path. Or picture the grand effect of an all e of trees shading the path as it leads down to the summerhouse.
Paths create specific moods for garden visitors.
A meandering pine needle path through a spruce woodland is calming. You can manipulate these moods by the way you create the paths. Lay that same path with old brick and you relax the feeling of both the path and the adjacent beds. Narrow and curve the path, set the old bricks well apart to make room for small ground-hugging plants like thyme, and you further underpin its informal design, creating a path that might run through a casual herb garden. Used by permission.