2024 May 6 The Garden Path

The easiest way to show that your native garden is deliberate is by adding a clear path. Paths are soothing to the human eye and they give humans a place within the ecosystem. 

The garden path. We have not done any maintenance to it yet this year, but it’s still well-defined.

When I bought this house in 2012, there was nothing remarkable about the backyard. There were literal tons of river rocks cutting the view from the house in half. At one point, someone decided they needed an extra parking space instead of something beautiful. So they filled a big rectangle next to the garage with rocks. A view out my back window at a car would make me incredibly sad. 

The first move I made was to outline a garden path in the area that was grass. Then I matched it up through the rocks. That first summer, I dug out the rocks and bricks and pavers underneath and filled in the hole with topsoil. I added hostas, because that’s what came to mind when I thought of shade.

From there, the garden developed beautifully. That original path still centers the garden. Even now, when we haven’t mowed, you can still see it’s easily defined, especially since it’s lined with chives -perennial favorite edible of mine. Right now, they are two days away from blooming. I’ll update when it happens. 

Chives line each side in the garden area.

The backyard I moved into in 2012.

A bit of progress lining up the paths. 

The first Spring.