Weekend: GARDENS: Off the beaten track: A path can transform a garden, however small. From sunken to raised to meandering, and using sand, bricks or concrete, there's one to suit every patch. By Dawn Isaac

• Published in: The Guardian (London)
• Main Author: Isaac, Dawn
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: London (UK) Guardian News & Media Limited 06.03.2010
• ISSN: 0261-3077

The route you choose will also set the mood. Straight pathways are the perfect way to approach a focal point, or when routing to somewhere vital such as your front door. Curvaceous paths, meanwhile, speak of mysteries around every corner and can be as enticing as a treasure hunt. The trick here is to be bold. Use tent pegs, lengths of string and spray marker as a giant garden compass. Having drawn dramatic arcs on the ground, join them up and you will form sinuous curves with real purpose rather than a wiggly line that would soon be blurred with planting. Raising a walkway offers another viewpoint. One cost-effective way to do this is to create an elevated grass pathway by carefully compacting and building up layers of topsoil. Shallow sloping sides can be turfed, but you could also plant them with scrambling species such as Ajuga reptans (bugle) and Pachysandra terminalis 'Green Carpet' (Japanese spurge) through a geotextile membrane (try Weedblock Path Patio And Drive Stabilising Material, pounds 41.99, from B&Q, 0845 609 6688, diy.com). This adds stability and can make for an eye-catching tapestry of colours. More unusual materials can make paths really stand out. Provided they are weatherproof, a wide range of objects can form walkways, from old wine bottle bases or glass pebbles (see a selection, from pounds 7.95/1kg, at Glass Pebbles Giftware, 0114 321 6219, glasspebbles.co.uk) to broken tiles and cockleshells (try DM Taylor & Company, 01254 877239, dmtaylor.co.uk).