[The bunny]

Thank-you kind people. I am keen to eliminate plastic from my plot. Does anyone have good suggestion in ways to do this, especially from the pathways. I know grass is one option, but could be high maintenance. Does anyone do something different which they have found successful.... photo where I started from..

[snowdrops]

Slabs?

[Subversive_plot]

Start with lots of weed pulling. You can compost what you pull if you keep turning it a couple times a year for 2 or 3 years before using the compost.

To control weeds, try mulching with leaves raked in the autumn from around broadleaf trees, or the same leaves mulched. Not much use in the spring and summer, but you can do later.

You out can try initially cutting the weeds short and covering the stubble with cardboard, newspaper, etc. These will smother weeds and you can compost them later.

[Blewit]

As SP says covering with cardboard and/or newspaper then add 3-4 inches of wood chips. As the chippings rot down they'll provide food for soil life which, in turn, will feed adjacent beds.

[Nobbie]

Any loose dry organic material is good, wood chip, leaves, small twigs etc. Being dry and loose it makes it hard for weeds to germinate and easy to hoe to remove any that do manage it. Every few years you can scrape of the top layer and you have some lovely soil underneath to add to your beds, then start again. I also throw mares tail and other problem weed roots on the path to dry out and die.