HOW TO CreaTe effeCTive paTHWays and edgings

York Gate’s head gardener, Ben Preston, offers advice on using plants and hardscaping materials to best effect. It can be difficult to keep the edge of a herbaceous border looking crisp all year round, but the black grass, Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, used alongside the carpet path here at York Gate manages to do this really well when planted closely together in a long row, creating the effect of a low hedge. Box balls or wicker baskets can be strategically placed to emphasise pathways. Choosing one or two simple materials and sticking with them throughout the garden will give continuity. Granite setts work particularly well, as their small size allows for creativity when laying. A circle at the intersection of paths provides a place to pause, with setts, cobbles or slates laid on their edge to create an intricate circular design.

› A striking path of stone setts and gravel in York Gate’s canal garden leads to the focal point of a circular window in the potting shed.