Naff or not?

I prefer a natural garden just with trees, plants and flowers. I do have bird baths and feeders but things like fairy lights and ornaments I cannot stand.

In my opinion, it would tacky. If I bought a house which had them, I would be digging them out straight away. Fairy lights etc. are moveable, but it's your home so your decision. Why are you asking the world of the internet anyway!

jaylucy, I have beads hanging from the bird feeder which send rainbows around the garden. I had more but DGD admired them so I gave them to her (as we Grans do!)

Your garden looks beautiful and the stones would only add to it. Lovely idea. ✨

Love that idea! I'd also string beads up and either hang them from a tree or shrubs so they catch the light, or add them to bunting.

Lovely idea! What about planting some tiny alpines or thymes in the cracks? Pretty flowers and thyme smells lovely if you tread on it. A garden centre will tell you what plants are suitable.
You can buy glow in the dark resin so you could make your own 'pebbles' to scatter in with your beads. You can also get coloured grits for fish tanks. Experiment in an out of the way part of your patio with filling the joints with silicone caulking (available in different colours) and embedding your treasures in it before it sets - just a thought, shouldn't need re-doing for years after.
I would love to have fairy lights around the garden for sitting out in the summer but living where I do (North of Scotland), it isn't dark until well after my bedtime in the summer, and when it is dark enough, it is too cold to want to sit out and the curtains are drawn so can't even see them from inside. I miss the darker summer evenings in country pub gardens when I lived in London.
Please post some photos of what you do so we can all admire.

I think an occasional bead will look lovely. You go for it. Can you post pics when you have finished it please, I’d love to see it

To be absolutely honest, I think factory made beads would be naff. I (would definitely prefer broken up coloured glass. (As I've said before )

Different strokes for different folks though. And different gardens.

I'm not convinced that beads would work from the practical point of view - they'd possibly be too small to make much impact and I'm not sure whether they'd last long.

I'd consider mosaic tiles - which can be cut to size to fit the gaps. If you want shiny then they're probably available too.

A neighbour of ours has painted large pebbles and put on her low garden wall. They are just so lovely with flowers and insects and smiley faces on but are cemented in place naturally!

You’re the one that matters .... your patio... your choice. Oh opinion shouldn’t matter.

Oooooh, pretty! Yes, forget your love of symmetry, it needs to look random even if it isn't, but yes, yes, yes! I think I'd go even further, and make some resin beads with glitter or mica powder in toning colours embedded in them!
Please may we see photos of the finished job?

I think it would look lovely - and it’ll be unique. Your garden is beautiful.

Personally I think your garden looks naturally stunning and for me adding beads would cheapen it. You could always just place some beads where you think and see if you like the effect but it is easy to keep going and spoil the look.

Your garden looks lovely,I think the beads would enhance the paving.I have geraniums thyme and Alchemilla mollis growing through my paving which really soften it.Please keep us posted.

https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/201907/medium-627165-black-pebbles.png%3C/span%3E https://signal-corridor.live/uploads/talk/201907/medium-491322-clear-pebbles.png%3C/span%3E

Coolgran65, I have a bare portion of fence so have copied your idea and ordered some flat glass pebbles, but without the ivy. How did you stick yours on? I have a glue gun which will probably do the job.
Note to self - STOP, remember less is more!

Ooh - I live your garden - that’s how I want mine to be when it grows up??
Yes to the hidden gems but then I’m such a magpie - if it sparkles, glitters or glows then it’s a yes from me.

Definitely do it - will look gorgeous ?

Very pretty garden!

When house-buying I once visited a house where they had painted the patio flagstones bright pink! - as were all the walls (inside and out), the carpets, sofas, bed covers, lamp shades, the lot!

And how about a solar fountain too? DH incorporated one in a just completed rockery. Under the more is more principle it incorporates lights?

What a beautiful garden! I’d go for it with the beads. We’ve just had new Indian sandstone patios laid as part of a major project and although lovely, they are a tad dull. Yours will look fantastic!

Shysal, I love your garden, it's beautiful.

All these other ideas are very exciting! I must be careful not to go overboard. Years ago I put a large pitcher on its side in my front garden amongst the gravel and had glass beads in watery shades spilling out of it. The local children loved it and so did my GD.

Your garden is beautiful and I think the idea of the beads in the pointing is fab - good luck with it.

We've spent the last two monthss renovating the garden in a bungalow we bought last year. Husband and BIL made a brick paved patio and this last couple of weeks have built a large planter and a small deck with decking boards to fill in a very large deep trough we inherited (we've no idea what it was supposed to be). I too love solar lights and anything pretty like beads. He brought home a large stainless steel dish from work and we've made it into a pebble pond so those beads would look lovely in that too!