European Inspired DIY Garden Walkway

How we made a European Inspired DIY Garden Walkway from my back porch to my she shed!

So I recently did a thing.  I asked my husband how much he loved me and he gave me his automatic response to that question, “what do you want”.  Well since I had put in my She Shed a few months ago  I was walking through the mud to get to it. It needed a walkway from my back door to my she shed.  With a quick Pinterest search and quickly found some doable ideas.  

How I started the process for my garden walkway

I already had large flat rocks and some red bricks from the fire pit that I had put in when the boys were in high school.  

I did a quick drawing and off to the store we went for some additional bricks and white marble stones for filler.  

Check out my doodle skills! 

How we Made a Diy Garden Walkway

We dug our lines to match the drawing I had made. I didn’t want it to be a straight shot.  Like life, there needed to be some exciting twists and turns! This was just a 2 to 3-inch “ditch for the bricks to sit in so that they could hold the weight of the marble stones.  It took my husband and me about 1 hour to dig both sides. 

After we dug the ditches (lol) we laid a quality weed barrier that was 3 feet across and went the entire length of the walkway.  When we came to a curve we cut a slit across the material and pulled it up and over to follow the lines. 

The next step was laying the bricks in the ditches. Ensuring that we firmly covered the edges of the weed barrier with the brick. This way no weeds would come up inside the walkway. 

Adding the Large Rocks

Now the heavy and the hardest part.  Luckily I called in the big guns and both of my sons were able to help us place the large stones in the walkway. The path had to be smooth and the stones to be close enough that I wouldn’t have to trip or hop to reach the next one. 

I placed the largest stones first in the front middle and the end.  I made a small landing in front of the doors to the she shed because I will be loading and unloading furniture and larger items in those doors so I wanted it to be safe and create a “porch” feel.  

Add Marble Landscaping Rocks

Once all of the large stones were placed where I wanted them, and/or the boys would no longer move them for me, we started dumping the bags of white marble chips in the open spaces between the stones and the bricks.  We ended up using 15 bags at $4.47 each.  That is including the rock garden in front of the she shed as well. 

We filled in the “porch” and created rock gardens on either side.  I added 3 Blue Rug Junipers on the larger side. They will spread out and cover the ground oner time with a beautiful blue-green color.  

Solar Lights

The last thing I added was 8 Portfolio solar lights to the path.  I often go out at night and the lights have helped tremendously! 

Update Two Years Later

I still love this European Inspired walkway and literally walk it many times a day! It makes me very happy!

My Favorite Garden Must-haves

Here is my post on How to Make a Citronella Candle for Summer that you see here on my table.