The pathways around your home serve their purpose, but flowers along the edging can bring colour and fragrance to this otherwise utilitarian space.
Imagine these mini-gardens alongside the tiles, pavers, and hardscapes. Year-round, flowers will soften those lines as they appeal to the senses.
By creating a beautiful border, your entire yard will be more attractive without being a chore. Here are a few examples of plants and shrubs which can enhance the visual appeal to your pathways.
Lavender
Lavender remains a favourite when planting borders. Its low height and abundance of colour make it a popular choice to line garden pathways and borders. Most lavenders like sun and well-drained soil and can benefit from heat reflected from the path it sits along. The fragrance emitted when brushed is another bonus of lavender, as well as its ability to attract bees and other wildlife in to your garden.
Hostas
Hostas are another classic choice for a pathway border plant. The many different varieties of hostas allow you to choose the one most suited for your garden space. Their colourful blooms will attract butterflies to the garden, while the variegated plant softens the pathway edge. Hostas can work in gardens with areas of full or partial shade and their easy maintenance allows for minimal gardening.
Alyssum
This honey-scented, low-growing plant is an attractive choice for pathway edging. Compact and fast-growing they can provide a dense covering of fragrant flowers in white, pink or lavender. They can grow to a height of 12 inches and are an excellent ground cover option. If cut back, alyssum should continue to bloom throughout a growing season, providing an intense fragrance as you walk along your garden pathway.
Patio Roses
An elegant touch of colour for your pathway! With new breeds of roses coming along, you can enjoy an array of pinks, reds, corals, yellows, and white blooms of all types. Hybrid tea roses, luscious floribunda roses, miniature roses — there’s plenty of compact, easy-growing roses that can live happily along your pathway.
Monkey Grass
Monkey grass is a versatile plant and makes an excellent border plant. It is particularly striking when defining the border between pathway and lawn, growing to around 12 inches tall. Monkey grass will grow in partial sun to shade and is a low maintenance option. It remains a garden favourite for the purple flower spikes it produces in summer, beautifully offset by the green foliage.
Hydrangea
Hydrangeas are another firm garden favourite, the large blue, pink, purple and white flowers providing a striking addition to brighten any border. They sit well with other border plants such as hostas, the medium-sized shrub of the hydrangea with its deep green foliage preferring a spot offering dappled sunlight.
An expert landscaper can design pathways and gardens that are interesting and colourful all year round, no matter the weather.
Our landscape team at Glorious Gardens is happy to discuss these ideas in planning your garden. If you’re considering a “re-do” of your outdoor space, we invite you to call us. We will brainstorm to find the right blend of elements to suit your tastes, your budget and your space.
