Garden Pathways Curved in the English Garden

Recently I visited Filoli Gardens in Woodside, California.

The garden there represents an early twentieth century interpretation of an English estate garden.  Many gardens make up the landscape, which includes sections of extensive lawn throughout the property.

Pathways in the garden are often curved, which was the look of the picturesque English garden of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The walk or pathway in the English garden could be made of gravel.

Philadelphia nurseryman Thomas Meehan wrote in the March 1861 issue of his magazine Gardener’s Monthly, “Next to the lawn, the walks are the most striking feature of a well kept garden.”

You can lay out the walkways as you design the landscape.

Curved walkways were preferred in the English style because it looked more informal, and closer to the more natural view that landscape gardeners recommended.

Thus it is no surprise that Meehan, an advocate for the English garden style,  placed such importance on the garden path or walkway.

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