When our neighbors installed a new walkway to the front of their house and added a container at the end, I was reminded again how a focal point in a garden or yard organizes space and enhances everything around it. 

Our neighbors, Tim and Sandy, spent the better part of three days installing a new walkway of crisp white concrete pavers to their front door. Lined up four wide, the paver pathway marched in a straight line from the street to their front door steps. At the steps, the path took a sharp right, creating a L-space between the house and the walkway.

The new pathway glowed beneath a canopy of live oak trees. But it looked long and lonely until Tim and Sandy added a final flourish to their front-yard makeover: a large container filled with flowers placed at the end of the path. 

Using a vertical design element in a horizontal space is a classic way to draw the eye in and to give it a place to rest. I can attest to that as I walk our dog by their house everyday. I always look right down their pathway to see the colorful container as a visual reward.

They selected an eye-catching cobalt blue ceramic container that complimented their yellow, low-country-style Florida home. They planted the container with just four plants: a red-orange tropical hibiscus for height, fuchsia New Guinea impatiens (with attractive bronze foliage), pink calibrachoa, and a cascade of chartreuse sweet potato vine. It’s a fruit bowl of colors and you can see it from long distances away. 

A container at the end of a path, deck, or yard is such a simple way to create order and beauty in a space.

Read more about creating focal points and vignettes in your garden. 

Written by Karen Weir-Jimerson