I think trying to make the center, main path curved is unnecessary. IMO it would look best running straight to the door from the street, saving any curves for the secondary paths. Maybe I'm too 'business-like' - I just want to get to the destination (the front door) as directly as possible. That's a straight line to me, especially if the main approach is from the street. If the main approach was from a driveway that made an L shaped path the sensible one, a curve in that one would seem logical and easy. I would also be inclined to make the junction with the side paths more open/rounded.

It seems to me that you are perhaps making too big a deal of the asymetry of the house front. I don't see it as so significant that you need to put jumping through all these hoops to try to compensate for it. You are clearly enjoying 'thinking out loud' and learning interesting stuff but perhaps you are ove-thinking things a bit too?

Thanks woodyoak. I do park in the front occasionally--it's easier to unload the groceries than going through the backyard so a straight path appeals more to me too.

As for "over-thinking" well, I don't know about that. I've no other (well-informed) means of bouncing around ideas, really.

When David Feix (bahia) suggested that you do a front elevation of your proposed garden he was offering a stroke of genius but you come back with the ubiquitous birds eye view.

I am not sure of your ability to see spatially but if you can imagine your paths cut through sand dunes rather than a flat lawn they look kind of alright to me. Now imagine that the sand dunes are vegetation (shrubs and perennials)and you are walking through rather than above the action and you may get a better feel. If indeed you raised the areas along the walkways you may be onto something.

Well, your sketching skills show improvement. ; )

Lolly, why devote so much space and cost to the meter reader? Seriously, you must allow access, but that only means the meter reader must be able to get to the meter without undue difficulty, i.e. no locked gates, ferocious dogs. You do not have to roll out the red carpet, or the most excellent paved path for someone who visits once a month to charge you money. YOU, on the other hand, LIVE here. Make it a happy place for YOU.

Woodyoak is right, the asymetry of the house is an anecdote, not a defining principle that shall henceforth dictate all design. Move on. In fact, unmask the bold, beautiful asymetry by removing that too-close-to-the-house blob of spinach thuja from the bright smiling roofline of your house. Get rid of it, give yourself some elbow room. Then try something wacky just to loosen up, get jiggy with it. Try some playful sketches or models. This is not a PhD, there are no right answers, there is no magic. Beauty really IS in the eye of the beholder, my design book said so. So behold, what is beautiful to you? (And yes, I have a personal problem with house-hugging evergreens, my bad. Please laugh with me, not at me.)

I still think you will get more bang for your buck by bringing the entry more forward with a larger porch. More porch, less path. Lather, rinse, repeat. (Yes, I do think the shrubs in front of the windows are poorly placed.)
{{gwi:38433}}

I probably have over 20 "playful" plans...
And I did laugh at your description of the Spinach Thuja. It is coming out. Just not...quite...yet. Unfortunately, I don't think "more porch" is in the budget. (It was for about a second...until we started discussing the one we need in the back.)

Ink, love the "sand dune" concept--that I can visualize (and perhaps even mock up in elevation view?) We'll have to see....and you'd better be nice to me when I do, 'cause it sure won't win any art contests! :)

Thanks so much for taking this on with me.

I guess I need to be more direct with my comments. When I suggested flagstone for the path way that connects around the street side of the house, I was assuming that the front walk would remain what it is, straight ahead and concrete, and that the side path would be the separated flagstone anchored within the lawn, so that the flagstone steps through the garden and reads as less solid than a full paved path. If you persist in thinking that the meter reader, or you yourself need a path to get to that side of the house, I would recommend that this could also be flagstone pavers, but smaller in size and more spread out, to visually clue everyone that this is not a major path, but simply garden access for weeding, planting, and also access to your meter. I also agree with Kim and see no real reason to make this path the same visual weight as the others. It also would not personally bother me that the entry/house path remains different and solid, which facilitates the snow removal/tripping issues.

If you can accept your neighbor's birch tree as part of your borrowed landscape, it nicely balances the front of your house with the evergreen to the left of your entry, and the trees beyond. I see nothing wrong with closing off your corner with some low to medium height shrubs, and this could even be accentuated with some low mounding to elevate the plantings. Corners are often planted with other than lawn, as a means to discourage people cutting across your yard, but you never expressed this as an issue.

It might seem as if you are over-analyzing your design project, and I think you have received enough input to perhaps weigh the different approaches for your own tastes, and decide what makes sense for you. Ultimately, plantings can always be moved, removed, done over, and at less expense than concrete and other paving. Certainly in a milder climate situation than yours, it would be very easy to change the look of this garden to a mixed border of shrubs, perennials and ground covers with a reduced area for lawn, and make it look gracious year round. In your climate, more weight must be given to either visuals geared to the warm months, or visual effects that will still be apparent in winter.

I think you are probably ready to explore gardens in your neighborhood to get more ideas for solutions that work in your environment. You have been given some of the considerations to measure how successful gardens achieve their objectives, and need to see them more critically to see what ideas they suggest for your own garden.

Thank you, bahia. I'm sure you are quite busy with real, paying clients at this time of year. I appreciate you taking the time to straighten me (and the paths) out.

They are giving me an awful--and perhaps unnecessary-- headache. If, as catkim suggests, I can do without a path for the meter-reader--I can perhaps instead focus on just planting for myself at the front of the house. Since I'll need an access path through the bed after about, what, six --ten feet (depending on what I plant) then one may just occur "naturally" anyway. I love the "sand-dune" concept--it makes the whole approach clearer to me.

I'm not entirely sure what flagstone is, honestly. I've seen it in books but I doubt I've ever seen it in real life. By the by, I have been walking the neighbourhoods around here almost every evening this summer. Some of it is quite pleasant. Most of it isn't.

I plan to spend the winter figuring out what to plant and that whole thing--I'd just wanted to figure out the shape of the beds so I could get them ready this fall (first frost is in about 5 weeks).

However, as laag so often says, garbage in, garbage out. I guess I was expecting too much of myself to come up with a basic layout--and that I'd be really happy with it after just nine weeks.

After all--the first time I was ever in a "real" garden--call it a 'gardener's garden' was just a week and a half ago.

My heartfelt thanks, again, to everyone who's been on this journey with me.

The prolific artist eventually hits upon a master-peice. The ability to know, which work is the master-peice, is now the key.

That's good, Rhodium, and comforting as I also do gazillions of sketches before hitting on what I want. My paradox is that I most often hit on what I want when I'm out in the yard. But I keep sketching like a mad optimist until that moment in the yard occurs. That is why I keep thinking that if you get out in the yard and plant stuff, it will be easier to have, or at least recognize, as Rhodium says, the best ideas.

I LOVE Bahia's idea of clarifying the relative importance of the paths by spacing the flagstone. Below are some flagstone samples, with some installed, but I continue to think/agree that concrete for the main path is the only logical choice for you.

I kind of like this latest drawing, though the previous one in the kitchen table model (which was nicely done by the way!) had a certain quirky charm and panache, especially as I thought it might actually reflect how you walk from side to house door. I do like curved walkways, and I think this one is little enough curved that you can chart a straight path along it. These are graceful curves, so they will never look as awkward as your present one. I might be inclined to flare the joint between the main and side path, but the y-junction has its assets. These, by the way, are also things you can use your paint or hose to lay out and assess.

KarinL

Here is a link that might be useful: My local landscape supplier

That is some gorgeous rock! It looks much more elegant to me than plain old concrete--and much nicer than staid old brick.

I have a weakness for stone. I get my fix with an annual trip to the mountains, usually.

Thanks for your kind words, Karinl. I'm going to concentrate on finishing the projects we've started--realigning downspouts, getting rid of the stump, the concrete rubble, etc. I'm going to put planning on the back burner for now. It won't be the end of the world if I have to wait until May to dig the beds. At least the compost should be ready!

perhaps this is what david means.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:44588}}

ooh--thanks Ink!

I really, really like that! That picture went straight into my style files. Are they laid directly into the ground or is there some sort of fine mulch there too? Maybe pine needles? Doesn't matter, that much, really. I like the light against dark and the mysterious curve (dappled shade always helps the effect, too, doesn't it? and the fence..and the shrub, etc.,). Anyway, not to take the picture too literally, but that's a great example of a "broken" path.

When I did this garden there was screened top soil spread over the whole thing and to a depth of six inches along the walkway. The stones (three to four sq feet and two to three inches thick) were just dropped into place on the loose soil. After planting some areas were covered with bark nuggets but the path had Hemlock mulch at two inches, soon disappearing. The trees/shrubs are Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) one of my favourites that grows well in zone 5b.

It amazes me that there doesn't seem to be a common language on this forum sometimes, and that simple words such as flagstone or stepping stone pathways would need a visual image to flesh out the thought. It is a bit frustrating for someone who thinks they are fully communicating their ideas, which are not being fully understood. It makes me appreciate how much easier it can be with face to face communication, and the ease of doing quick sketches with an actual pencil and paper, and dates myself as being a landscape architect educated before CADD and computers were considered the norm for communicating ideas. I guess I will just crawl back under my rock.

Was that pun intended or accidental Bahia? It got a chuckle from me in any case...:-) Please don't crawl under your rock (or flagstone...:-)

David: it will always happen when those who work in a particular field attempt to communicate with those who don't work in that field, have you been to a computer store recently? I think Lolly has been a real sport in sticking with it until she gets her head around it and your descriptions only needed a visual to be complete the picture for her. Far from feeling frustrated you should be happy that you were the one who provided the stimulus for the photo.

Now explain the difference between a rock and a stone.