Follow the yellow brick road

Functional navigation

Traditionally, paths in the average suburban garden were made from pebbles with ill-defined edges or concrete - which soon cracked - because it is economical and readily available. They were purely functional but often not that practical because they were narrow and awkward to navigate. Paths still need to be functional but they can be very much more than that. The Yellow Brick Road in The Wizard of Oz is the ultimate path: it is exciting, enticing, colourful and mysterious.

Forecourt chic

Cobblelock paths, made from pre-cast concrete, work well in car-parks or petrol station forecourts but they look too harsh and industrial in gardens. Concrete is still a fabulous material, though, and one of the most plastic or pliable. If it's used properly it can be very exciting. It can be coloured (good builders' suppliers sell concrete dyes) and textured and used in conjunction with other materials such as stone. You have the option to add materials into it such as pebbles, shells, and smooth pieces of recycled glass.

Go natural

Natural materials are attractive but they can be a bit dull so you need to be a innovative and adventurous about mixing materials. If you're using granite slabs, for instance, you might intersperse them with slate or sandstone as a contrast. Bark, recycled rubber matting and sand are other good path materials. The paths in front of Powerscourt are made of Wicklow sand. Natural materials are a safe option because they last if they're properly maintained, while some concrete can fade and look shabby.

Forecourt chic

Metal and other industrial materials are used in quite a lot of gardens now and paths can be made from textured, non-slip sheetmetal. A mesh or grille path suspended above the garden is fabulous for walking over and through plants.

Adding texture

Mosaics, which can be made from collected pieces of crockery, are popular now and you can make these very personal. Some people are fond of white in the garden - white sand and white cement used together has a fabulous effect. You can also create texture by using coloured stone in the mix and power-hosing the surface of the concrete before it has fully set.

Style and direction

Generally, when designing a path, you need to take in the overall shape and style of the garden. There are lots of choices: a path can be suspended, sunken, straight, curved or winding. People have a tendency to hug the perimeter of their house with the path but that's not very practical as you often have to negotiate wheelbarrows and lawn mowers.

Or they send the path straight down the middle of the garden. Curving paths running down the side of the garden tend to be ignored and, as you can see in many public places, if a path makes the journey too long people will cut corners across the grass. If a path is properly designed you can, in a sense, control people - especially in larger gardens. A path can be used to bring visitors on a journey and lead them through the garden.

Special effects

A path can create visual effects: it can frame the garden, act as a link between different areas and subdivide the garden into separate sections. It can be used to lead the eye towards a particular feature or away from an eyesore. If a garden is long and narrow, a short, wide path running across it will make it look broader. In the past a common trick in short gardens was to make the path wider near the house and narrower further away, creating a false perspective. You can enhance this by having larger plants nearer the house and smaller ones further away.

Use your own style

I'm a great believer in people having fun with what they do in their garden. Gardens should be personal rather than reflect a certain imported style, such as Japanese or English. People often ask me what style they should go for and I say their own style, rather than a carbon copy of a brochure.

Underplay the snazz

If you want to make a path stand out it needs to be snazzy with clever details rather than, say, Disney red or chequer board. You don't want to overplay the thing.

Hugh Ryan is a garden designer and a member of the Garden and Landscape Designers Association. Tel. 0402 6386.