Marking the transition from one garden space to another often calls for a change underfoot. For landscape architect Tito Patri, the right path can serve that purpose.

In an example of his work in a garden in Woodside, California, the path passes first through a "controlled" part of the garden and then into the "uncontrolled" native landscape, Patri designed it to harmonize with both areas. In the formal part of the garden, he hand-set Indian basalt cobbles into crushed granite, spacing them closely together. Then, as the path enters the natural landscape, the cobbles are spaced farther and ­farther apart until they ultimately give way to an expanse of the crushed granite.

"I wanted the path to reflect the disintegration of architecture as you move away from the home and transition into the surrounding oak forest," he explains.

Patri earned an Award of Excellence for this imaginative design in Sunset's 2004-2005 Western Garden Design Awards program.

Design: Tito Patri, San Francisco (415/346-2226)