27-10-2003, 08:32 PM
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Ground cover for paver walkway?
In article ,
(Natty_Dread) wrote:
Hi folks -- I just put down some paving stones in my garden yesterday to
make a pathway for ease of weeding, etc. I'd like to plant some very
low-growing ground cover as a fill in between the stones to give it that old
English garden path feel. I live in the Washington DC area, zone 7; the
area in which I placed the stones gets full sun for a big part of the day
from late summer to early fall, and very little full sun in spring and fall.
Something with small flowers would be nice... any ideas for me? Thanks in
advance! 
Rhonda
Alexandria, VA
Zone 7
Many people are apt to recommend Thymes, & there are many varieties, &
worth a try. You could even use multiple types of dwarf thymes, as some
are so different from one another they could make quite an interesting
texture shifting one variety into another into another. However, I suspect
thymes will turn black & ugly in winter, & not bounce back quickly in
spring without direct sunlight at that time.
A real winner that is genuinely "stepable" is Irish Moss (deep green) or
Scotch Moss (yellow green). This likes full sun but won't get ugly if sun
doesn't hit it directly all year round. It's fully evergreen right through
winter without interuption. It has tiny white flowers early in the year,
but mainly it imitates moss & is grown because of this close resemblance.
Wherever it is NOT stepped on, it might mound up a bit too high, so needs
to be planted below the level of the pavers. It spreads rapidly. It can
encroach over the surface of stones eventually devouring them, but is
easily stripped & cut off at the edge of the pavers every other year. It
does well with regular watering, but is also suprisingly drought hardy. It
can be bought in flat trays to "cut out" into the shapes desired to fit
right where you want them, but even if you just plant a bit between pavers
here & there, it soon takes up all the area it is provided.
For the look of a mossy pavered pathway it's unbeatable. If it has any
drawback (which it shares with thyme) it is that such short-short
groundcovers don't really suppress weeds all that well. Rather, they can
themselves be a moss-like medium for weed seeds to get started.
True mosses are usually more difficult to get started especially in spots
that get direct sun part of the year. There do exist full-sun mosses but
these tend to be less pretty ones that stay a quarter-inch tall or
smaller; the beautiful fluffy mosses mostly want damp shade. The Irish
Moss looks like moss but with the bonus of tiny whtie flowers mosses lack
& very hardy under a variety of conditions. If some of the area along the
path you've made ARE shadier, you should look at "Club Moss" which is a
true primitive moss of unusual beauty & just about the only moss widely
cultivated to sell in garden shops. It wouldn't like being stepped on or
to be out in the sun, but it blends well with scotch moss if you want the
green groundcover to extend away from a path into shade underneath
shrubbery.
-paghat the ratgirl
--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/
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