plants that I can plant between stepping stones??

I just put in a stone walkway through one of my gardens. I would like to plant something between the stones. It is a partially sunny spot. Shade in the morning afternoon sun. I dug up the soil that existed and replaced it with mostly compost. I used the lavender idea from one of my other posts to give this walkway a border to kind of keep is seperate from the garden.

Thyme or moss.

Will the moss take the sun? Thyme?? Any special kind? Like the cooking thyme? Here is a pic of what I have. It was 10 in the AM when I took the pic. I need a few more stones to put down so I can get them a little closer and the ones at the end are also going. This is in a brand new bed that I am just starting.

I have neither, but there have been previous posts that elaborated on it. I think Irish and Scotch Moss were used. Not sure which Thyme varieties.

I have Irish moss between some stepping stones in my shade garden, but on my large slate patio I used thyme, tough stuff and it likes the sun. On that same patio I planted some low growing sedum that my sister-in-law gave me. It is spreading too. I like the look of both, but the thyme is much more tolerant of being stepped on.

Looks great! Is it a particular variety? Does it release scent when stepped on?

Whatever you do, do not plant bent grass! This was DH's idea - thought that bent grass was naturally short - didn't realize it would still have to be mowed (or weedwhacked). This just turns into an ugly mess. This year, DH decided to reseed part of the path - of course within two days it poured rain - now I have grass all through the gardens from seeds that washed away in the downpour.

But this spring, I tore out the bent grass in front of our arbour gateway. I planted thyme (told DH it looked very "English" - he's a true anglophile). Anyway, he is now convinced that thyme is the way to go - so next spring I will tear out all the rest of the bent grass - about 35 feet of pathway - and reseed with thyme (and I will plant thyme plants along the edge of the pathway to help prevent grass from invading again.

If you enlarge the picture, you can see that the thyme in front of the arbour looks much more attractive then the bent grass in the pathway on the other side of the gate.

Yes to both, but I can't find the variety right now. Many nurseries sell "Stepables" They are varieties of plants that can be stepped on. I have used the thyme varieties from that line to supplement my initial planting. They come in nice little pots that can be spread out (They spread on their own so quickly.) They are also pretty economical at about $3 each. I bought about 10 and covered a 20' x 20' patio.

I must add that it comes back every year in most areas. I do have a couple of spots it does not come back and that is why I have let the sedum take over there. I do have some moss in one corner too; I like that too. All of these have had to be weeded, mostly from grass, but as the years go by, I find I weed less and less.

Picture of sedum in foreground and thyme in background.

I had lemon thyme (thymus citriodorus) planted between stepping stores. It grew so densely that no weed would manage to peek its ugly head out of there. And best of all, you could use it for cooking. It also released a very pleasant lemon scent when stepped on. It was very hardy in zone 5.

Sylvain.

Rose:

That's a beautiful patio. I love the thyme between the stones. May I show this photo to my SIL who is trying to decide on what to create his patio from?

Candyce - Certainly. Thanks for the complement. Many of our slate pavers weigh between 500 and 600 pounds. Our neighbors decided to get rid of their 100 year old slate sidewalks. I knew I didn't want them to break them up and dump them. They let me take them for free. My DH and I rolled them to our property on PVC pipes. The neighbors sat and watched us and said we looked like Egyptians at work. It took days.

Now with the thyme, plantings and gardens, the neighbors want their slate back, LOL. It was very hard work and well worth it. My house is a large 110 year old Victorian and the slate patio fits in like it had always been here. Tell you SIL that it needs NO MAINTENANCE! The large stones with a good gravel and crusher subsurface have never moved, in 12 years, heavy snow and freezing. My kind of maintenance plan.

Great job Rose. I'll call you guys when I want to move my house.

As another DG with an Our Old House - i bet if you put that much effort into your patio, your home must be fabulous as well. don't you find owning an old house is like buying a 30 year hobby?

Hobby or hubby??

Ummmmm . . . .it's been a while since I had a 30 year old hubby . . . don't think I want to retrain another. . . . breaking down old stereotypes about gender roles took a long time and two daughters. I definitely don't want to get pregnant again just to achieve gender parody.

So I will pass on the 30 year old hubby, and stick with a 30 year hobby.

What an appropriate usage error - 'parody'!!

Rose:

I can just picture what you went through to get that slate in place. How lucky that you got it all for just 'sweat labor'. We have an old house, too. Back in the late 1700s it used to be a boarding house for the local millworkers (chair factory). It has 17 rooms, total. Our family is large enough to have a need for every room.

But, can you believe it? Even with all these rooms I don't have a place to start plants indoors in the spring? It boggles my mind. LOL!!

Yes, old houses are a lot of work, but I love it. I have always wanted to run a B&B, and now with this big family, that's just what I seem to do!!

This message was edited Jul 22, 2007 2:03 PM

I love the thyme idea. If you think of the variety please let me know.

Wow - Candyce - please post pics of the house. Guess you share it with kids and grandkids?

Ummm, yep, Victor. It's actually my daughter and son-in-law's house. They share it with me - as long as I promise to watch their two youngest kiddos, monitor their teen-agers, keep the downstairs clean, plan the menus and do the grocery shopping, walk the dog when she needs it, and all that comes with being the 'chief cook and bottle washer'.

I wouldn't trade what I do for anything else in the whole wide world!!!

I meant parity - though parody might work also. I have an excuse . . . I have a headache and I cut the tip of my middle finger deadheading the petunias in the hanging baskets.

so I'm grumpy. :-(

Well I'm sleepy so that's two down...I cut the tip off my middle finger a few years back dead heading Salvia. It definitely required stitched but I didn't go. Still does not feel right so there was some nerve damage.

You cut the tip OFF???? OMG, Victor. I just have a cut that insists on bleeding at inopportune times (in spite of the bandaids.) But clearly, your wound was much more serious. Mine is not serious at all - just irritating - and making me irritable (and apparently stupid from blood loss . . . lol)

Must comment on how much I liked gender parody!

Victor, Were you trying to achieve digital parity?

Actually - in rereading it . . . it is pretty funny :-)

No, not completely off - but almost. Did not heal for quite some time.

DH husband cut the end tip of his thumb off in some sort of machine (a press, I think). Anyway, thumb is functional but tender.

My mother took out here right hand index finger when she was two - she put her hand in a seed drill when the grown-ups weren't paying attention.

I bet it hurt like heck at the time, Victor. (can you say "heck" on DG ?).

It certainly did. Advil did not help very much. Was a burning throbbing pain.

....like my two wasp stings today!

I used Creeping Thyme (Thyme Minus - common name) between slate stepping stones. The note on the label says the "leaves are too tiny to be used as a culinary herb but enjoy the frangrance by stepping on it". I just planted it a few weeks ago and it has not started to grow much yet. Sorry but the pic is not very good. I need to get a lot more next year but thought I would try a couple of plants this year to see how well it would grow and fill in between the stones. Eleanor
Name on the label: Thymus praecox arcticus 'Minor'

Eleanor:

I love that photo of the thyme. I jotted down the name you said was on the label, so I can look for it at the stores. Is it a quick sprouter?

I bought plants so I don't know. Next year I may try seeds as I have a lot of stepping stones to plant between. Eleanor

Eleanor - I'm in the same boat.

Here is a possible source of seed . . . only 2 inches tall.

http://www.hazzardsgreenhouse.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=T1885V&Category_Code=HS&Store_Code=Hazwho

Here is another - taller 6"

http://www.hazzardsgreenhouse.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=T6538V&Category_Code=HS&Store_Code=Hazwho

Actually - this might be the better choice . . .

http://www.hazzardsgreenhouse.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=T7013V&Category_Code=PTZ&Store_Code=Hazwho

I was wondering about miniature sedum. It only gets 1/2" tall and tolerates moderate foot wear.

Dragon's Blood could work. I have it in one garden in between the slate.

I have it too - it's very pretty but I wouldn't use it for foot traffic. There is a Sedum that is real short - looks like a moss - that can be walked on. I'll try to remember the name. I used to have it.

I saw it and I had it until I started in with my fire tool. I still have a little patch of it left. Victor, believe it or not it starts with Sex........maybe Sexangular or something close to that. I'll check plant files.

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/68630/