From square slab to elongated hexagonal

micearguers

Over lockdown I changed our path of re-used square slabs. The path was very useful in protecting our lawn from becoming a clayy muddy mess over winter, but I didn't like the look of it:

After experimenting (shading slabs using charcoal) I liked the look obtained by shaving off the corners such that the slab matches half of a hexagon on both sides, with a band in the middle:

Leading to:

The elongated hexagonal shape counteracts a bit the perceived compression one gets from the perspective view (the slabs in the far distance hadn't been done yet). The plan is to have low-growing plants (e.g. thyme, aceana, erodium, leptinella) between the slabs and to the left, transitioning into lawn on the right. The transitioning is a bit of a poblem, but I'll be fighting for the team on the left and I'm using a sunken barrier to hold back the grass. It was a bit of a job shearing off the corners with an angle grinder, but these guiding casings at least made the cuts easy:

I didn't cut them off cleanly, but made a groove about half the depth of the slab (leading to the second picture) and then used a mallet to tap and take the corner bits off. View from above (with some annual filler tagetes alongside), benefiting from some good autumn colours:

pansyface

Very pretty.

What a beautiful garden. 🙂

Lyn

Well done, it looks beautiful. Much better like that.

WillowBark

Wow, I wouldn't have thought that cutting the corners off some stepping stones would make such a difference! Looks really good. Also, I *love* the colour in your garden, it looks absolutely stunning. As someone with not nearly enough space to fit that many trees and shrubs, or be that creative, I am both admiring and jealous. It's a beautiful garden, enjoy.

micearguers

Thank you for the kind words everyone. Rest assured @WillowBark that this is one of the very best shots I have, I kind of sneaked it in. The heights of autum + sunshine did wonders there, at other times or from other views it can look dreary, miserable, or jumbled.  The large red acer on the right actually is in the neighbouring garden, we're very lucky with it. It is on my todo list to take the same shot in winter (now), I'm sure it will be quite a difference. To be able to garden over lockdown has made a huge difference, it must be so tough for people without such a space to escape to plus any other worries they may have.