Warm days have caused our gardens to flourish, but this can mean too much of a good thing.
Did you ever feel like giving up on your lawn and paving the whole thing? Of course you have, but let’s face it, it is not practical. Your neighbors would probably tar and feather you. Not only that, but you would not be really happy even if they didn’t.
Your yard would look like a desert and feel like one, too. Besides, the idea is to plant more trees, shrubs and turf to improve our environments.
Some communities, like Kailua-Kona, are due major landscape face-lifts. Minimal landscape maintenance practices have taken their toll. Whether a small garden, shopping center or public street, our communities are healthier with attractive landscapes.
If you fertilized and mowed your lawn properly, you may still have some trouble spots. Those areas that are too shady or too heavily trodden need to be handled in some other way than turf.
Shady spots might be ideal for a small terrace, a paved area where you can sit and enjoy the cool location. If this is not practical in your landscape, then shade-loving ground covers or shrubs might be utilized.
When it comes to heavy-traffic areas, a good solution is a walkway. Walks are as much a part of a garden as are grass, shrubs and trees. As with the rest of the garden, walks should be carefully designed. They also must be practical.
As a general rule, a walk should go somewhere. It should serve a purpose. A walk from the sidewalk to the front door is an example of a walk with a purpose. However, the purpose is not served in a practical way if the walk is designed to follow a crazy curve throughout the lawn. On the other hand, if the walk is made to curve about a group of trees or to go around a clump of shrubbery or a water element, then the design serves a purpose.
A walk to the front door, from the kitchen door to the rubbish bins, or a walk around the house as part of a service entrance are all examples of walks that have a useful purpose.
But landscape architects sometimes design walks that are useful in another way. One practice is to run a walk about the border of the lawn, separating the grass from the shrubbery along the lot line. In one corner, the walk may bulge out into patio size for chairs and perhaps an outdoor barbecue.
The walk may serve as a mowing strip or limit the borders of the plant beds. It may provide a comfortable way to stroll through the garden to enjoy plants from a close up viewpoint. If there are small children, it may even provide a safe tricycle run. In some cases, the walk may end up going nowhere but gives a sense of depth to a small garden.
When we speak of paved walks, drives or patios the materials that usually comes to mind are stone, concrete and other pavers of various materials. They are durable and extremely versatile. Concrete comes in many textures and colors and may be designed in many ways. For example, large stepping stone, 16 by 16 or 20 by 20 inches, can be used very effectively for making walks. Zoysia grass may be grown between them, or the grass that is used for planting the lawn. This discourages unwanted skate boarders!
Leveling the ground where stepping stones are to be placed is very important, but if the area is filled with large roots, the stones will soon be tipped one way or another by the expanding roots. Individual stones can be pried up and the roots cut.
For leveling, one of the best materials is fine sand or cinder. Level, pack, moisten, let dry and pack again. Then place the stones.
The design of walks should be thought out carefully, and sketches should be made before any work is done. Planning done well in advance will save labor, excessive costs and, above all, disappointment.
Do not overlook the many other materials that are available here in Hawaii. Brick is attractive and versatile but somewhat more expensive than textured concrete.
Asphalt can be used and is cheap but not as durable. Pine bark, macadamia nut shells and other organic materials are used for a very rustic effect but must be replaced to compensate for breakdown. Natural lava stone may be used if you can find the right shapes and sizes.
For some really exciting ideas on the subject, some excellent books are available at local garden shops. Sunset’s “New Western Garden Book” and Sunset Magazine, among others, may give you some good ideas.
If your project is a major one, our island has many landscape architects and landscape designers to assist you. You may also call the Master Gardeners hotline for additional resource ideas. The number in Hilo is (808) 981-5199 and Kona, (808) 322-4893.
Norman Bezona is professor emeritus, University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources.
