Very nice job!! You should be quite proud of yourselves.

A path is a means of circulation. It has to go somewhere, so if you take it out into the lawn, it needs to continue to some sort of destination, not just peter out into the lawn......I agree it should be subordinate to the patio - you don't want to detract from that great feature - but could it not just lead to the water feature? Do you even need one? Perhaps just using a few more of the large flagstone pieces as stepping stones through whatever plantings leading to the water feature is all that is necessary.

Spazzycat, i just have to comment on your efforts. This is absolutely GORGEOUS! What an eye you have, along with the green thumb and "do it yourself" skills to go with it.

Brilliant job ....

Do you really need a path? If the destination is not heavily traveled, why not just walk on the grass? I agree with the above posters, your patio and wall are excellent.

HI Spazzycat

Beautiful, beautiful work. You are amazing! It's not my place but I know I always welcome ideas when trying to make changes to my place.

It sounds like you want to somehow integrate the waterfeature (I have a pondless and I love it) into your landscape.

Why not place the feature close to the patio (I find it really draws me to it and have placed a low bench and a couple of chairs facing it because it is mesmerizing)

I noticed that you have some very pretty trees in the yard. Why not ancher the wall with a lovely small tree (flowering or winter interest whatever you think you may need) near the end and then place a grouping of flagstone set simply and not to regularly in stone dust near it so you can look at the fountain from a different perspective. the path could be stone dust with flagging that would be similar to your patio but maybe a little more casual feeling. I'm not sure how much space you have there. It may be that you can't even fit a walkway but I know what you mean about wanting to branch out.

You could also go one step further and create a garden room there by putting in a hedge of some sort that would enclose it somehow. If you wanted it to really take you to the other part of the yard, (looks like you have a beautiful shrub border) you could trim the hedge to allow a doorway through it. I've seen this and done it and it is charming....

I love to create garden rooms. I think they really do draw you in and if each one has a place to sit, you are really drawn to the seat (though it doesn't look like you sit down too much!) your place is beautiful.

Best of luck and have fun dreaming!

mps

SIGH, your yard looks so lovely with the wonderful trees and shrubs, and the patio you created is fantastic. Personally I'd leave it alone - its wonderful as is already! We have but a small area of back lawn only and the two dogs we recently got have all but ruined the lawn. Can I come over and sit on that patio and enjoy yours??

to see recent pics of our front, back gardens and the children's secret garden, ck out my Picture Trail:

Here is a link that might be useful: look at Landscaping Projects 2007, Favourite ROSES We Grow albums

Nice job!

One way to handle a path out to an area such as a lawn is to do stepping stones that are fairly close together, but as you approach the expanse the loose walk widens and the stepping stones are spaced much father apart somewhat like a river delta. It is much stronger as a visual composition in lawn than in a bed. I'm not sure through what material your walk is going to go through.

I think that the lawn is a very strong element in making your patio space.

Nice job indeed. Are you sure you need a water feature at all?

KarinL

If you do something like laag described, that can suffice without having the path loop around and go back somewhere else. Something about that delta design makes the path stand on its own as a pleasing feature. It requires a bit more of your lawn space to be devoted to the "path," but avoids having a tiny little row of stepstones tiptoeing out and deadending at some feature--to me that's what looks odd in some landscapes--the dead end is more, well, dead, when the path is constricted, and not so when it has that widening, blending into the lawn effect. So, you would need to think how that would work in terms of where you put what and how you maintain it (can be mowed over if set just so in the lawn, but still creates a "disturbance" in your lawn surface.)

Wow, your yard is beautiful! I don't usually post and am certainly not any kind of expert but wanted to say that I would not change it much. Maybe just add a birdbath? I'd find a substantial one. And no path. Really it is just so lovely as is.

Because you already have a circle, perhaps you should entertain the idea of a three tiered fountain with pool. This is a pic of one I placed in my front yard. The walk actually follows the same curve as the 7' pool. I pulled a stringline from the center of the fountain to establish the radius. This is a pic I took a few years ago as I was working on it.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:8610}}

You could put the water feature out where your lawn opens out just to the left of the end of the wall. That would allow you to inclue the small lawn area adjacent to the patio as part of that outdoor space. You could then have your stepping stones lead toward it and then fragment around it so there is no single step off point onto the lawn and your path would not lead to nowhere.

Look in other directions than from building out off of the edge of the patio.