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Before and after · garden path · full sun

Garden path ideas: a lawn redesigned as a winding gravel path through borders of roses, catmint and foxgloves

A lawn beside a sandstone patio, with a bed of shrubs and a grey trellis on the left, a washing line overhead and the houses next door beyond the boundary. From one photo, it was redesigned as a walk: a winding path of buff gravel held by low stone edging takes the place of the lawn, deep borders of roses, catmint, foxgloves and delphiniums line both sides, white clematis climbs the old trellis, and the path ends at a weathered teak bench under the trees at the back.

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After: the design drawn from the patio edge, with a winding path of buff gravel held by low stone edging, deep borders on both sides of pink and white roses, astrantia, catmint, white foxgloves, blue delphiniums, sea holly, white brunnera and lady’s mantle, a white clematis over the trellis on the left, the yew where it was, the fences stained a warm brown and a weathered teak bench under the trees at the far end.
Before: the owner’s photo. After: the design drawn from it.
How it works

One photo of your garden, redrawn with a finished design

Shown with another design from the gallery. This English cottage garden works the same way.

  1. A deep prairie border in a walled garden: purple salvia, orange geum, foxgloves, echinacea and lime green alchemilla spilling over a brick edge onto a lawn.The ideal design

    The garden you want

    A finished design from the gallery, with its planting and its materials.

  2. A different garden before any work: a plain rectangle of lawn between slatted timber fences, with a bench against a shed at the far end and two bare trees.Your garden

    Add your garden photo

    One picture of your garden that shows the whole plot.

  3. The same garden with that planting in it: a stone path winding to the same bench, echinacea, rudbeckia, liatris and grasses either side, the same fences, shed and trees kept.The result

    Your dream garden

    The same style of planting and the same materials, drawn around what was already there.

Transform My Garden like this First 3 designs free · no card · UK plantsOr start a design from scratch

This makeover at a glance

Style
English cottage garden
Shape
Long, with a border of 15 metres down the left side
Light
Full sun, acid soil
Started as
A lawn beside a patio, a washing line and a grey trellis

Kept

  • The yew
  • The trees at the back
  • The grey trellis, with a white clematis over it in the design

Changed

  • A winding gravel path
  • Stone edging, both sides
  • Deep borders both sides
  • White clematis, a bench under the trees
In the design

Garden path ideas and deep borders: four from this makeover

  1. A winding gravel path, close up in the design
    A lawn beside the patio, the same spot beforeBefore

    A lawn beside the patio A winding gravel path

    A winding path of buff gravel from the house end to the trees, in place of the lawn

    A path of buff Cotswold gravel takes the place of the lawn, winding from the house end between the borders to a bench under the trees at the far end. A path that bends takes the eye through the borders on its way to the bench rather than straight to the back fence, so a long plot is walked as well as seen, and buff gravel picks up the warm colour of the sandstone slabs at the house end.

  2. Stone edging, both sides, close up in the design
    A lawn edge against the slabs, the same spot beforeBefore

    A lawn edge against the slabs Stone edging, both sides

    Low stone edging on both sides, holding the gravel off the borders

    A line of low stone edging blocks runs along both sides of the path. It keeps the gravel out of the borders and the soil off the path, and it draws the curve as one clean line, so the catmint and lady’s mantle can spill over it and the edge of the path still reads from the house.

  3. Deep borders both sides, close up in the design
    A bed of shrubs, a lawn, the same spot beforeBefore

    A bed of shrubs, a lawn Deep borders both sides

    Deep borders of roses, catmint and foxgloves on both sides, spilling over the path

    In the design, both borders are planted in layers: catmint, hardy geraniums, lady’s mantle and white brunnera massed at the front so they spill onto the path, white roses at the front and pink roses through the middle and back, with astrantia and sea holly among them, and white foxgloves and blue delphiniums standing tall through them. Deep borders make the path a walk through the garden rather than a way across it, and the tall spires take the eye up to the trees.

  4. White clematis, a bench under the trees, close up in the design
    A grey trellis, a washing line, the same spot beforeBefore

    A grey trellis, a washing line White clematis, a bench under the trees

    White clematis over the old trellis, warm stained fences and a bench under the trees

    The grey trellis on the left stays, with a white clematis over it in the design, a wall of flower in spring at the left boundary, and the fences are stained a warm brown in the design, with roses against the right one. At the far end, where the path stops, a weathered teak bench sits under the trees, looking back down the walk. A climber on a trellis that is already there puts flower at eye height and softens the boundary, and the bench gives the walk a reason.

Before: a back garden seen from a sandstone patio at the house end, two pots on the slabs, a bed on the left with a variegated shrub and a big yew behind it, a grey lattice trellis against the left boundary, a lawn on the right, a washing line with pegs strung across the top and the neighbours’ brick house beyond the far corner.
Before: the owner’s photo.
Before

A lawn beside the patio, a bed of shrubs and a washing line overhead

Sandstone slabs in the foreground with two pots, a bed on the left with a variegated shrub and a big yew behind it, a grey lattice trellis against the left boundary, lawn on the right, a washing line strung across the top of the picture, and the neighbours’ brick house beyond the far corner.

The design keeps the yew, the trees at the back and the trellis where they were, and takes out the lawn and the washing line. The fences are mostly out of shot in the before photo. The patio is out of shot in the after picture, which is drawn from its edge.

In the borders

English roses, catmint and white foxgloves: the planting

All of them chosen for a plot in full sun on acid soil.

  1. English rosesWhite at the front, pink through the middle and back
  2. CatmintPurple, at the front, spilling onto the path
  3. Lady’s mantleLime green mounds at the front
  4. BrunneraWhite sprays at the front
  5. AstrantiaPink pincushions through the middle
  6. Sea hollySilver blue, through the middle
  7. White foxglovesTall white spires through the borders
  8. DelphiniumsBlue spires through the borders
  9. ClematisWhite, over the trellis on the left

With Pro, every design you make names every plant in it, how big each one grows, where it goes and when it flowers, so you know what to look for at the garden centre.

What you get

What comes back from one photo of your garden

  • Redesigned around your fences and trees. About two minutes after you add your photo, in the same style and materials as this garden.
  • Planting matched to your light and soil. Add your light and soil if you know them, and the planting follows them.
  • Every plant named, with Pro or Max. Pro is one payment: £29 for 20 designs over 14 days, two at once; Max, £49 for 50 over 30 days, four at once. Every one names its plants, how big each grows, where it goes and when it flowers.
  • Built by a professional gardener. Real plants that grow in UK gardens.
Transform My Garden like this First 3 designs free · no card · UK plantsOr start a design from scratch
Questions

Questions about this garden path design

What is the best gravel for a garden path?

A gravel in a colour that suits the house and its paving, laid on a firm base with an edge to hold it. This design uses a buff Cotswold gravel, which picks up the sandstone of the patio, held by low stone edging.

Does a winding path make a garden feel bigger?

It makes it feel longer, because the eye follows the bends through the borders instead of going straight to the far end. The path here curves between planted borders the whole way from the house to the bench.

How much does a garden makeover design like this cost?

Your first 3 garden designs are free, no card required. After that, Pro is one payment: £29 for 20 designs over 14 days, two at once; Max, £49 for 50 over 30 days, four at once, every plant named in every one, and clean pictures to keep.

Is the after picture a real garden?

The before is the owner’s own photo. The after is the design Garden Design App drew from it, using real plants you can buy in the UK.

Keep reading

More before and after garden makeovers

After: the same strip as a planted courtyard, with a paved path through deep borders of lavender, purple salvias, coneflowers and grasses to a small table and chairs
Part sun · narrow plot

Wildlife garden makeover

A narrow strip of lawn, redesigned as a paved path between deep borders of lavender and salvias.

After: the same plot with a brick and stone path curving to the shed between deep borders of roses, delphiniums, lupins, foxgloves and peonies, with terracotta urns at the top of the path
Full sun · fenced plot

Cottage garden makeover

A bare, straw coloured lawn and a deck crowded with pots, redesigned as deep borders of roses, delphiniums and lupins.

After: the same garden as a Mediterranean gravel garden, with pale gravel, flagstone stepping stones, clipped olive trees in terracotta pots, drifts of lavender and a timber arch
Full sun · acid soil

Mediterranean garden makeover

A rectangle of lawn, redesigned as pale gravel, olive trees and drifts of lavender.

After: the same garden with an irregular stone path winding through grasses, white anemones, foxgloves and peonies to the chairs at the far end
Shade · town garden

Small town garden makeover

Long grass and a hosepipe in a shaded town garden, redesigned as a winding path through grasses and shade planting.

After: the same passage with a stone flag path running through deep shade planting of ferns, hostas, foxgloves, periwinkle and a Japanese maple against the fence
Deep shade · narrow run

Shady side passage makeover

The bit down the side where the bins live, redesigned as a shaded path of ferns, hostas and foxgloves.

After: the same yard with pale limestone paving, a curved lawn edged in brick and deep borders of catmint, salvias, coneflowers and climbing roses
Full sun · clay soil

Modern garden makeover

Slabs, bare soil and a blank brick gable, redesigned as curved lawn and deep planted borders.

After: the same plot as a meadow garden, with a stepping stone path through deep borders of purple salvias, crimson scabious, pink coneflowers and grasses, wisteria and clematis on the fence beneath the gable, and the deck edged with lavender
Part sun · clay

New build garden makeover

A rectangle of new turf beside a blank gable, redesigned as a meadow of salvias and scabious, with climbers on the fence and the shed.

After: the same plot as a white gravel garden, with one straight path of large grey slabs to a small patio under a white pergola, deep borders of white rock roses, lamb’s ears and white foxgloves along sage green fences, and agaves in terracotta pots
Full sun · clay

Long garden makeover

A long plot of grey gravel and slabs, redesigned as a white gravel garden with one slab path to a pergola at the far end.

After: the same plot as a cottage garden, the lawn replaced by beds of delphiniums, foxgloves and roses either side of a stepping stone path to a metal bench, climbing roses on the side fences, catmint at the foot of the wall, a terracotta pot on the step and thyme in the joints of the patio
Part sun

Tiered garden makeover

A slab patio, a step and a raised lawn, redesigned as a cottage garden with roses on the fences for privacy and a bench at the top.

After: the same plot as a cottage garden, an oak framed gazebo with a slate roof where the summerhouse was, a teak table and chairs under it, a gravel path through lavender and catmint, borders of pink roses, blue delphiniums and silver lamb’s ears on both sides, clematis and roses on the black fence either side of the gazebo
Full sun · dry

Gazebo garden makeover

A lawn gone brown and dry and an old summerhouse, redesigned as a cottage garden with an oak gazebo and a gravel path through lavender.

After: the same view with the pergola in full wisteria flower over the deck, a lawn with curved edges and deep borders of foxgloves, mullein, geum, catmint and black eyed Susans, a path of sandstone slabs through gravel to a small sandstone patio with a bistro table and two chairs to the right of the lawn, and the brick walls and back shrubs where they were
Full sun

Wisteria pergola garden makeover

A patchy lawn under a wisteria pergola, redesigned as a curved lawn with deep borders for bees and a sandstone patio to the right of the lawn.

After: the same view with a path of grey and buff stone laid in herringbone curving down the middle to the foot of the spiral staircase, borders of Mexican feather grass, Japanese forest grass, blue fescue and heuchera on both sides with blue delphiniums and purple top verbena rising through them, lavender beside the path, lilac clematis and pale climbing roses on the fences, and the staircase, the brick house and the shrub where they were
Part sun · clay

Urban garden makeover

A narrow strip of artificial grass under a spiral staircase, redesigned as a curved herringbone path through borders of grasses and perennials.

After: the same view with paths of pale gravel winding out from the patio between drifts of purple salvias, lavender, pink coneflowers and yellow black eyed Susans, a small pond with a pebble edge and a stepping stone on the right, an untreated oak bench against the back fence, the fences stained a warm brown behind blue Californian lilac and orange firethorn, and the tree, the conifer and the patio where they were
Full sun · clay

Wildlife pond garden makeover

A wide lawn scorched brown, redesigned as a gravel garden with a small pebble edged pond, drifts for bees and an oak bench at the far end.

After: a design drawn from the owner’s photo, with large grey slabs laid at an angle with dark pebbles between them, curved beds edged in metal holding New Zealand flax, agave, yucca, purple salvias, orange geum, white gaura and Mexican daisies, the fences stained charcoal with star jasmine on the right one, an L of teak seating built round a gas fire pit in the back corner, an olive tree in a tall planter beside it, the boarded wall and the potted shrub where they were, and the neighbours’ brick houses and roofs beyond.
Light and soil not recorded

Fire pit garden makeover

A lawn gone brown between a boarded wall and a fence, redesigned as a paved garden with slabs floating in pebbles, architectural planting and teak seating built round a fire pit.

After: the same garden drawn as a cottage garden, a flagstone path down the left, a circular lawn in the middle, deep borders of blue delphiniums, pink and white foxgloves, purple hardy geraniums, pink and peach roses, catmint and box balls, espalier fruit trees on the wall at the back, a timber arch, oak table and chairs on pea gravel at the far end, and roses and lilac clematis on the warm stained fence.
Full sun (the design’s notes) · soil not recorded

Cottage garden plan makeover

A lawn beside a concrete path, redesigned as an English cottage garden: a circular lawn in deep borders, a flagstone path, espaliers on the wall and oak seating on gravel at the end.

Transform My Garden like this