an enclosure for the barrels

Thank you! I have a few similar inspiration pics and just trying to figure out if things like rocks are necessary, curved or straight walkway layout style for this space alongside a ranch style home, and what kind of low-maintenance plants in zone 7a. Local garden shop recommended some sea grass but doesn’t seem like enough to soften the barren look out here lol.

Note in our last home, we did a curving flagstone path with creeping thyme between the stones but I never mastered it- usually more grass and weeds snuck in!

Gravel, rocks - all those sorts of things are for a dry climate, where drought does the heavy lifting of weed supression. Somewhere it rains, you need a higher order of path. I've had some success with large paving stones in grass, where the mower runs over the whole thing. The grass does periodically need trimmed back, but not every time it's mowed.

Given the space, and the fact that it's a walkway with a purpose, straight is the way to go. People (and dogs) tend to walk in a straight line from A to B. If that isn't where the path runs, they'll cut corners. Since there seems to be a drainage swale there, between the houses, I'd keep the path right up against the house. Even keeping the path on one side, there doesn't look like a lot of room. Brushing up against wet plants in the rain isn't pleasant, so you do want to plant small enough things that they don't encroach on the path. I don't know exactly what the local nursery means by 'sea grass', so I can't comment on that.

This is all so helpful, thank you!