How to Select Plants for a Walkway

When a walkway stands out against a rustic backyard’s surroundings, adding plants can soften its edges, and make the path feel like a natural part of the yard. Choosing the right plants means considering more than their appearance. Landscape contractor Jenn Nawada helps a homeowner select plants that will thrive in Santa Fe’s dry climate, adding structure, texture, and color to the landscape.

Assess the Planting Area First Before picking plants, take a close look at the conditions around the walkway.

Existing trees and shade: Mature pine trees form a canopy over this yard. Jenn’s plan uses them as the top layer of the design and fills in underneath with “understory” plants that can handle partial shade.

Water and erosion: Santa Fe gets roughly 14 inches of rain a year, but much of it comes in short, heavy bursts during the summer monsoon season. A rock border along the path was trapping runoff, which caused mudslide-like conditions after storms. The first job was removing those rocks, along with a few struggling plants.

Soil: Like much of the high desert, the ground here is hard and dry. It needs some improvement before planting so young roots can get established.

Winter weather: Santa Fe sits at about 7,000 feet and gets significant snow. Every plant needs to be cold-hardy enough to survive winter.

Fire risk: In wildfire-prone areas, think about how dry plant material will be managed through the seasons.

Plan in Layers To connect the tall pines with the low stone walkway, Jenn plans in three layers: tall plants around 5 feet, mid-height plants around 3 feet and groundcovers along the edges. This kind of layering makes a planting look full and natural. It also means shorter plants stay near the path, where they won’t block it or get hidden.

Tall plants: Upright ornamental grasses give the garden height and structure. Feather reed grass grows in a narrow, vertical clump and sends up feathery plumes from mid-to-late summer into fall. That adds even more height and lets the planting sway in the breeze.

Mid-height plants: This layer adds most of the color and movement.

Columbines have delicate, spurred, bell-shaped flowers. If you cut them back after the first blooms fade, they can bloom a second time between spring and summer. Columbines prefer some shade, so the area under the pines suits them well.

Catmint is a clumping perennial with purple flower spikes that bloom through most of the growing season.

Prairie dropseed is a fine-textured bunchgrass. Its leaves are softer than those of many other ornamental grasses. It’s native to North American grasslands, including parts of New Mexico.

Blue gamma is a native bunchgrass and New Mexico’s state grass. In late summer and fall, it produces curved seed heads that look like eyelashes.

Groundcovers: Low spreading plants that fill gaps along the path. They also help with erosion: their roots and stems hold the soil in place so rain is less likely to wash it away. Jenn put groundcovers in spots that already showed erosion and along the sides of the path.

Use caution with certain groundcovers: The traits that make some groundcovers good at holding soil and quick establishers, also let them easily escape the garden. Certain aggressive groundcovers should only be planted where they are contained, such as between a path and a wall. Plan to edge the garden once or twice a year, so they don’t spread into the rest of the yard or nearby natural areas.

How to Plant Along a Walkway Once you have a plan and know which plants you’ll be using, it’s time to get to work installing them.

Lay out the plants. Before digging, set the potted plants along the walkway: tall grasses toward the back, mid-height plants in the middle and groundcovers along the edges. Adjust their spacing for mature size until the layout looks natural. Dig the holes. Start right next to the base of each pot. Dig about twice as wide as the root ball, and only as deep as the root ball is tall. Set the right height. The top of the root ball should sit slightly above the surrounding soil, because mulch will be added on top. As Jenn puts it, too high is better than too low. Plants set too deep can end up with soil and mulch piled against their stems. Improve the soil. In hard, dry ground, mix some potting soil and a starter fertilizer into the soil you dug out. The potting soil improves aeration and helps hold moisture around the new roots. Remove the plant from its pot. Hold the pot at the base and squeeze the sides. A light tap can help free the plant. Loosen the roots. If the roots are packed tightly or circling the root ball, gently break them apart with your thumbs. That way they’ll grow outward into the surrounding soil instead of continuing to circle. Backfill. Fill in around the root ball with the amended soil, breaking up any chunks as you go. Firm it gently around the roots. Mulch. Spread about 2 inches of mulch around the plants. Pull it back from the base of each plant so stems and crowns aren’t buried, which can cause rot. Jenn used pecan shell mulch, an organic product made from shells supplied by New Mexico farmers. Water. Water each plant thoroughly to settle the soil. Jenn finished by giving every plant a diluted vitamin solution to help it settle into its new home. Caring for Your New Plants Water efficiently. New plants need regular watering while their roots get established. Jenn suggests installing an irrigation system, such as drip irrigation, that delivers water right to the plants’ roots. It wastes far less water than spraying the whole area. Maintain the mulch. Sun can fade mulch over time. A light top dressing of fresh mulch will restore its look. After a heavy rain, rake any mulch that has washed away back into place. Prepare for winter. Most of these perennials die back to the ground and go dormant in winter. Periwinkle is the exception: it’s semi-evergreen. Cut the plants back in the fall. Some gardeners leave ornamental grasses standing through winter for birds, but in wildfire-prone areas, cutting them back removes dry material that could catch fire. Be patient. Perennial gardens usually take about three years to fill in. Gardeners often describe it as “first year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap.” By the second and third years, the planting should look full and lush, and the established roots will do a better job of holding the soil during monsoon storms. When a walkway stands out against a rustic backyard’s surroundings, adding plants can soften its edges, and make the path feel like a natural part of the yard. Choosing the right plants means considering more than their appearance. Landscape contractor Jenn Nawada helps a homeowner select plants that will thrive in Santa Fe’s dry climate, adding structure, texture, and color to the landscape. Resources Local Santa Fe, NM landscape assistance and plants provided by: McCumber Fine Gardens

Additional plants were purchased from Jackalope in Santa Fe, NM

GROUNDCOVER PLANTS Lamium ‘White Nancy’ – will form a dense mat. When in a well-irrigated, shady area, it can grow aggressively but can be managed by edging, withholding water, or pulling it out by the roots. Periwinkle Vinca – will also form a dense carpet of green and will help stabilize the soil. But it is an extremely aggressive grower and can easily spread and takeover an area if not properly maintained. Use a sharp spade or edger to slice around the containment area once to twice a year. MID-HEIGHT PLANTS Red & White Columbines (Aquilegia) – has spurred, bell-shaped flowers. ‘Purrsian Blue’ Catmint (Nepeta) – low-maintenance plant that has long-blooming, spiked, purple flowers. Prairie Dropseed, Ornamental Grass – bunchgrass that adds movement to a landscape. Grows to about 2-3 feet tall. “Blonde Ambition” Blue Grama Grass – blue-green bunchgrass with curved seedheads that grow at right angles at the top of the stems. Grows about 2-3 feet tall. TALL PLANTS Feather Reed Grass ‘Karl Foerster’ – grows in an upright column, up to 4-6 feet tall. Their height and feathery plumes add movement and texture to an area. MATERIALS Potting soil: FoxFarm Happy Frog Soil – since the soil was so dry, potting soil was mixed into the hole before planting. Starter fertilizer: FoxFarm Happy Frog Steamed Bone Meal Fertilizer – mix in with soil before planting. Pecan mulch: manufactured by Soilutions – a sustainable mulch option for the New Mexico area. Vitamin solution: SUPERthrive Liquid Concentrate – added to garden after planting to reduce risk of transplant shock. TOOLS

How to Select Plants for a Walkway

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