Walkways & Garden Paths in Seattle

Covered lounge, fire table & turf lawn

A modern pergola over a paved lounge, edged straight into a turf lawn that stays green all winter, with a plank path running the length of the lot.

2 photos

Flagstone path and river-rock edge

A side yard nobody used, turned into a proper route to the back garden.

Floating slabs in a gravel bed

Oversized concrete slabs set in gravel — a clean modern route across a rebuilt yard.

Paver driveway and terraced front walls

A steep front lot taken back to terraces — a full paver driveway, block walls holding the planting beds off it, and steps up to the door.

3 photos

Side-yard walk behind a bamboo screen

The strip down the side of the house nobody uses, turned into a proper route with a golden bamboo screen for privacy.

Flagstone path with a river-rock edge

A shaded side route in flagstone, edged both sides in river rock so the winter runoff has somewhere to go instead of across the path.

Curved front wall and planting

A curved wall along the front of the house holding the bank off the drive, with new planting behind it and a paved walk in front.

Block steps up to a cedar gate

Wide block steps up the side of the house to a new gate, with a clean rock strip alongside to take the roof water away from the foundation.

Deck with lit steps down to the patio

Warm lights set into the risers so the steps read after dark without a single fitting on a post. The deck runs the width of the house and lands on the existing paver patio.

2 photos

Cable-rail walkway along the hedge

A raised walk connecting two levels of a narrow side garden. Cedar posts with stainless cable infill keep the hedge visible instead of walling it off behind balusters.

Cable-rail stairs down to the lawn

The missing link on a raised deck that had no proper way down. Cedar posts, stainless cable and a wide tread depth, so it is a route rather than a ladder.

Block walls and paved approach at a building entrance

Segmental block walls terracing the grade at the front of a modern building, with a stone column, handrails to code and a paved approach — commercial hardscaping, where the walls have to take footfall as well as soil.

Two tiers and a set of steps

Splitting one tall wall into two shorter ones takes the load off both and leaves a planting shelf in between. The cobble along the base is drainage, not decoration.

Front garden wall and steps

A Queen Anne front garden is usually a slope between the pavement and the porch. A wall and a run of steps is what turns that slope into somewhere you can actually plant.

Fire pit terrace with its own path

The terrace sits away from the house, so it needed a route to it. The walk uses the same family of paver in a smaller unit, which reads as connected rather than as matching.

Slab treads set in river rock

A side return too narrow for a full path. Large slabs floated in washed rock give a route through and let the ground either side carry on taking water.

Curved brick walk with lighting

Brick pavers in a double soldier course, edged in cobble and lit low along one side. The curve is there because a straight line across this grade would have needed a step.

Flagstone terrace with a rock edge

Irregular flagstone fitted tight, with a washed rock margin doing the drainage where the ground falls away. Every stone is cut to the ones it touches.

Steps lit at dusk

Bollards set beside the treads rather than in front of them, so the light lands on the step and not in your eyes on the way down. Aiming is most of this trade.