Beginner Gardening: Ideas for walkway / landscape around a deck , 1 by Diana_K

Diana_K wrote:
Safe walkway from driveway to deck.
Compacted gravel, perhaps sold as 1/4 by dust or other names. It is a blend of fines and small, angular gravel that will set up almost as hard as concrete.
Make the path 3' or more wide, generous, sweeping turn. Do not hug the deck.
Use a header board material to confine it.
Repeat for the path to the gate.

Alternate: Use very large stepping stones, set pretty close together. At least 2' diameter. Natural rock. Needs to be big enough and heavy enough to be stable. Don't waste time or money on little waste scraps from the quarry. Then plant a ground cover that will handle some traffic. Lawn is one, but I do not know what else grows in your zone. Ornamental Strawberry? (Fragaria chiloensis) does just fine in full sun, and does not mind being stepped on, especially if most of the traffic is on the stepping stones.

Against vertical surfaces (wall of house, fence, side of deck) plant something that is tall. Shrubs, vine, or even a small tree. (I did not show a tree).

Minimize lawn, unless that is really what you want. Good surface for playing. However, if you want to keep some lawn, I have left most of it.

Hide the porch. I built a planter, and faced it with the same latice as is on the porch and deck so it ties in, then planted it.

Pink, purple, blue represent areas that are something of a focal point, and flowers or colored leaf shrubs would show off nicely.
Green represents shrubs that may or may not have some color, but are mostly there to soften the hardscape.