What would you do here?

Due to a construction project the center of the driveway was ripped up. Before I have the rest of the asphalt ripped up and gravel the whole driveway (on hold for new roofing) how can I make it look good temporarily? When it rains I have mud and puddle pockets. I have a pile of the "rose colored" pavers and another small pile of bluestone. I tried 5 pavers with what I thought would be grey gravel (packaged) and I think the gravel looks very white and out of place. Should I remove it? Continue and just plant it? Any ideas? Help!

Here's another view with a section of garden in front of the gate. You can just see the pavers starting. The driveway is ripped up in front of the gate also. I am supposed to make the "garage " accessible for cars. So I can do what I want with he center strip only for now.

Perfect opportunity for some delicious low growing steppable plants - pennyroyal, mazus, creeping thymes, whatever flava you fancy.

Or make it totally painless and just throw out some sweet alyssum seeds. The easter egg colors are sweet...

another plant that I "luff" is Irish Moss, I'm growing it between stepping stones: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2910/ However, it might look too much like grass in your driveway situation. At least pennyroyal or lemon thyme would give off a delicious scent when you tread on it.

Thanks for the suggestions Pagancat and wrightie. So you both think I should plant it. Right now the dirt is heavy clay subsoil and sand. Moss, and plenty of weeds are growing in it. I also have some desirable seedlings popping up among the weeds such as chamomile, torenia,and penstemon. I moved some of the moss between the stepping stones in the garden. In an interesting aside this is the second instance I've noticed a seemingly acidic infertile strip of mossy ground plays host to seedlings. In another mossy area between stepping stones I was surprised to see many small heucheras.
wrightie,
I also love Irish moss and will add some to this area. I'm not familiar with pennyroyal but do have a few different thymes, moss phlox and variegated oregano I might be able to divide next spring. I guess if I plant a tapestry of different textures I can avoid the grass in the driveway look.
BTW one of my first thoughts was to seed grass and small bulbs in this strip until someone mentioned it would look like a mohawk.

Pagancat,
I assume I'd have to wait until spring to seed alyssum?

So something like the photo with stepping stones in the middle should look ok ? BTW the lizard is not real.

I sure like the idea of planting it, and since it will only be a temporary situation, I might think of that space as a little "nursery" so that I could transplant / give away the little "creeps" once the driveway is ready to be graveled.

Here is the pennyroyal info. Think of it similar to any other mint, the stuff takes off and fills in, but the smell is wonderful when you walk on it. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/297/ You know, I might even have some seeds. I'll check and then get back to you, if you're interested(?)...

PS Semper, For what it's worth - since that strip is so narrow, I'd probably lose the pavers for now and just put in plants (and lizards) unless you think the pavers are a necessity during your construction project.

This message was edited Sep 19, 2007 8:24 AM

The idea of planting stuff and using it as a nursery is pretty cool. I'm with them, the white rock looks out of place but I think the pavers would be ok with the plantings. Like you said, getting a little late now to plant but you never know!!

I love the idea of just a bunch of green in varying textures and heights - I think it could be very interesting!

You know, you might just be able to get those alyssum in if you've got a couple more weeks of warm like we do - and your existing drive should give you a little bit of extra warmth/ microclimate.....

Thanks for the input. It certainly is a lot less work to just plant the strip and forget the gravel and pavers. Maybe I'll just put in a few pavers to step through the strip and just plant the rest. I'll have to look through my old seed packs to see if I have anything that would work. And of course I have an excuse for another trip to the nursery.
wrightie, do you think the pennyroyal will harm the dogs if they munch some?

Well, I would imagine that the dogs would be fine if they're only taking a taste of it. The concentrated essential oils are toxic, so it seems to me that they would have to eat quite a bit to be harmed by it. I did a quick google search, but didn't come up with a specific answer, but for what's it worth, I wouldn't hesitate to have my own dog around it (monitoring the dog within reason).

In fact, I found this quote, "Some dog owners swear by garlic and brewer’s yeast to keep fleas away, but no evidence exists to prove these plant products are valuable preventives. Other dog owners plant herbs such as pennyroyal, southernwood, or wormwood around dog kennels or near doorways and use herbal flea collars, brush lavendar or eucalyptus oil into the dog’s coat once a week, or sprinkle dried leaves of lavendar, rosemary, sage, or eucalyptus in the dog’s bed to keep the little bloodsuckers at bay, but the jury is still out on effectiveness." here: http://www.canismajor.com/dog/allergy.html

But at least you'd have a sweet-smellin' pup, eh?

I've found the animals in general (very general!) don't tend to go for the more aromatic plants (in this case I mean plants that carry aromatic oils, not scented flowers). My horses got into my liriope, echinacea and cosmos, but in the same bed left the lavender completely alone.

Of course, one took a big ol' bite from a citronella scented geranium this a.m., so my theory could be fubar, who knows....

I think it looks nice the way it is. the flower bed next to it and the garage looks nice. It's a driveway! sort of a buffer to make you notice how pretty the garden is. I think your place is very cottagey and beautiful!

I'm trying to fill in a stepping stone path. This shot shows a little bit of Irish Moss and the rest is Mazus. The Mazus really took off this summer.

From this angle, the Mazus is on the right, and that's Pennyroyal on the left. Both were started from a five inch pot that was torn into pieces and planted. As you can see, it really took off and now needs to be trimmed back a bit.

Huh, I've never heard of Mazus before. It looks neat combined with the Pennyroyal.

Oops, didn't check this thread lately.
Pagancat, is fubar a word? I use this with the dogs when they eat something they shouldn't.

wrightie, thanks for the information on the pennyroyal referring to dogs. The photos are very helpful. I found some mazus. I decided if this is going to be a planting strip I might stick an old cold frame along the strip for spring use, maybe.

Len123,
Thank you for the compliments on the garden and garage. It is just a bit silly to worry about planting the driveway. I'm afraid I've long ago stepped over that line of reasonable when it has to do with gardening.

It's my understanding is that FUBAR is an acronym used in the military that has crossed over to civilian use. It means... F*d up beyond availability to repair.

LOL, Pat, you've outted me!

There are some differing ideas on the actual meaning of the BAR part = beyond all recognition, beyond all repair are two other suggestions...

sempervirens, looks like you've made good progress in this area! The Irish Moss and Mazus are perfect for this area but there's a great little grass that you could also use if you can find it: Carex eburnea http://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Fall/Detail/01602.html. We brought some back from the shoreline at the family cottage in Michigan where it forms little tufts. My husband used to call it "Fairy Grass" when he was a boy spending his summers there :) I'm planning to plant some along this path to 'soften' the edges. This isn't a very good picture, but it gives you an idea of what I've been working on this summer. Plus, it also shows you one more thing I wanted to recommend, the 'gravel' I used to place my pavers. You had mentioned you didn't like the look of the 'white' gravel you used. Try picking up some of the bags of 'paver stone' (or what I used to know in the Northeast as 'stone dust') - it's a very fine "gray" gravel that packs down almost like cement and is great for controlling weeds! I picked mine up from Lowes and it was very reasonable, about $3 something a bag.

rcn,
How could I resist the Carex eburnea when I hear your husband referred to it as "Fairy Grass" as a boy. I have to admit to a probably foolish addition to that strip, a weed, Plantain lanceolata, because I think the "flowers" look like "Fairy Candles". I have plenty of the broadleaf Plaintain major as a weed in my garden but always admired the other narrow leaved variety for the unusual flower, so I dug 2 clumps out of the sidewalk strip in front of someone's house. I'm sure they didn't miss it. In my admittedly weak defense, on the herb forum I found it can be used to make a salve.
I have a very fine leaved "grass" identified as a Juncus, probably tenuis, by Patrick on the Plant ID forum. It is growing spontaneously in the path with moss so I've been using that as a filler. I think the Carex will work well with it.

The stone dust in your photo goes well with the stone steps and path. I think the light stones I have work better in this bluestone path in the photo then the driveway. I'll have to move the rest of them to this path in the spring.

This message was edited Oct 29, 2007 1:54 PM

Aw, pretty area made prettier by pooch! What a cutie.

LOL, when I first looked at the photo, thought your dog was a statue!!! Love your bluestone - my original plan was to lay that path with bluestone, but the cost was a little too steep, they charge an arm and a leg for the stuff down here :( Could have kicked myself last December when I was in Maine - the day before Christmas I drove right by the headquarters for Blue Rock Stone Center in Westbrook - if I had only thought about it sooner, could have made plans to pick up what I needed right there! Had to be satisfied with the pavers I picked up from the local Lowes, but considering the slope I had to contend with, they actually made the project easier. What I would give to have a reasonable source locally for the granite pavers I lalways used for my paths in Maine.