- 2 to 4 hours
- About $100 per 10 feet of path
Difficulty: Easy to moderate
Digging, tamping, and hauling heavy stone products are the hardest parts.
What's the point of a well-maintained yard if trying to get around it means trampling the marigolds and leaving your paw prints in the perfectly clipped lawn? The best landscapes guide amblers with paths—well-defined ribbons that say, "Hey, go this way," and, gently, "Keep off the grass."
Sure, you could spend several days and many dollars putting in a walkway made of cobbles or bluestone, but a simple gravel trail won't break your back—or your budget. Gravel (as well as crushed brick or crushed shell) is a traditional path material found in formal gardens throughout Europe and Asia, and takes little skill to install. An afternoon to get it down (as demonstrated here by This Old House technical editor Mark Powers), and you'll soon have a natural-looking, foliage-free way to walk through your perfect landscape.
