Felder's Footpaths

'cause I just installed a flagstone walk, rearranging each slab of natural stone like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. And no amount of Advil is easing the aches. But I spend a lot of time in my front and back cottage gardens, both laced with walks and meandering paths, and this particular walk was in a low area, getting slippery with moss, and in need of a re-do.

As I approach my tottering years it is important to have a sure place to put feet in the garden, without having to look, especially late in the day, or during gullywasher rains or wintry ice, or when I am in a hurrying and laden with bags of groceries or what-not. Throw in porch steps and it can be quite tricky. And, while I have honed a subconscious foot memory from years of treading it all, an o v e r - t h e - s h o u l d e r "Watch your step!" has little meaning with lessadroit visitors, especially at night when they can't see their feet in the first place.

Not getting into design here because everyone has their own preference between formal straight lines and more feel-good Feng Shui curves. But paths ought to be convenient - ever notice how postal workers, kids, and dogs ignore our best-laid plans and create "desire path" shortcuts across yards? Public park designers know this, and sometimes deliberately leave some walkway out of their plans, waiting to see where people actually go before laying concrete.

My gardens feature several different kinds of walk/path materials, sometimes in the same walk. I use poured, stained concrete, home-made concrete stepping stones and natural flagstone, even strips of synthetic turf. Some of my lesserused paths are just soft,