How to Match Your Walkway Pavers to Your Landscape Design Style
While there’s certainly nothing wrong with an expanse of lush, green grass to add visual appeal to your Sioux Center, Iowa backyard, most homeowners want more in the way of landscape and hardscape design for both practical and aesthetic reasons. Of course, if you have no background in design, you’re likely to find the task of upgrading your yard overwhelming, to say the least.
This is where working with a professional landscape designer can help, but you’re still going to have to make most of the decisions. Your design partner can offer you a variety of targeted options based on your preferences and your property, but you need to make sure you choose elements that not only suit your taste, but work together to create a cohesive whole.
Pavers can be used to create functional patios and walkways throughout your yard, connecting the house or your outdoor kitchen area to gates and focal points like site structures or fire features, just for example, but they also need to be visually pleasing, rather than standing out like a sore thumb. How can you match your walkway pavers to your landscape design style? Here are a few things to consider.
Traditional/Historic Home Styles and Gardens
Whether you live in a Tudor, Victorian, or arts and crafts style of home, you’ll want to make sure the pavers you choose go with the wooden fencing and the neat, manicured, intricate garden styles that often accompany such architecture. Often, there is an element of whimsy to these gardens thanks to the addition of carefully curated wildflowers, but by and large, you’ll want to stick with relatively simple, traditional, symmetrical arrangements that make the flora the star of the show.
Your best bet is to choose from traditional materials like brick or cobblestones that are historically appropriate to your older home style and that feature uniform color and sizing. Stamped concrete is a modern (and generally less expensive) option some homeowners may prefer. You can play with patterns and layouts to add some visual interest, but by and large, walkways should play second fiddle to landscaping.
If you’re working with difficult existing materials like a brick home or retaining walls, choose light colored pavers or natural stone to differentiate pathways from other hard surfaces without overtly competing with landscaping.
Rustic Homes and Gardens
Lodge-style homes, cottages, and cabins require an entirely different aesthetic when it comes to both gardens and pathways. Since gardens for these structures tend to be a bit wild and unstructured, a good way to go is with natural stone that complements the landscaping and gives the impression of having sprung up there organically. Locally-sourced stone is a great option and you may want to space stones loosely with gravel or moss in seams.
Modern Minimalism
When it comes to contemporary home and garden styles, a less-is-more approach is apropos. In terms of walkways, this means choosing just one or two different pavers to create simple patterns that catch the eye. If you want a bit more visual interest, consider piecing together irregularly-cut flagstones to create a more unique aesthetic. No matter your home and garden style, you can find the perfect pavers for your Rock Valley, Iowa property with the help of talented professional designers.