around the bend
the best garden paths turn a simple stroll into a childlike adventure
Written by BRUCE IRVING
PHO TOGRAPH B Y RICHARD FELBER; PHOTOGRAPH FACING PAGE, B Y SANDRA KIMBALL
In the metaphoric world, garden paths have
gotten a bum rap: being led down one often
means you’re in for deception. Happily, things
go better in the real world, especially in the
strolls made possible by some of today’s best
landscape architects. To them, a path is a metaphor of a different kind, a way to tell a story, a thread
binding a tapestry together, an invitation to slow down
and reflect or to have an adventure.
Julie Moir Messervy, principal of Julie Moir
Messervy Design Studio in Saxtons River, Vermont,
imagines the paths she designs as streams moving
through the landscape, with pools, rapids, meanders,
and waterfalls. “People move the same way,” she points
out. “They pool at obstacles, like a threshold, then they
snake along single file, like along a winding path, then
cascade down a set of steps, only to pool again at a terrace.” Even a straight path fits the model, like a canal
bearing the traveler toward a goal such as a vista or an
enticing curve ahead.
using native granite on a Connecticut site (above),
Sheila Brady created a horizontal path, where grassy joints
gradually shift to point through the gate. facing page:
Gregory Lombardi created a path that slows down visitors’
natural rush to the overlook with a zigzag of massive
bluestone pavers coursing through drifts of perennials.
