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

I've got more of a stepping stone area that I started this year. It
gets afternoon sun, but most of the plants didn't go in until June.
Some of the things I tried:

Woolly Veronica - Ended up more in shade from seating area. Still
there, hoping it spreads a little next year.

Pink Nancy lamium - Was supposed to be White Nancy. Spreading nicely,
but covers everything in its path. Pink flowers late summer.

Sedum sarmentosum - Plucked this out of my uncle's lawn. Died back in
traffic (large dog) and grassy areas. Spreading very nicely under the
(young) weeping willow. Yellow star flowers in spring.

Creeping baby's breath - Supposed to be pink, was white instead.
Bloomed all summer, spreading decently, covers stones. Not sure about
traffic, is fairly protected so far.

Common purslane - Nice jade-looking weed, but it died back after it bloomed.

Kentucky Blue Grass - I sprinkled some of this between the stones
because I got tired of all the dirt. Just raked up the dirt a little
before seeding, no real prep. Most germinated, looks pretty good where
it took. Couple patches yellowed and died back in August. The grass
wiped out the sedum where it grew thickly.

One more plant I definitely want to try near the seating area next year
is Corsican mint. Very cool scent, is a tiny little mint that should
take light traffic.

One thing I did realize is you need a lot of plants because nothing
really started spreading until late. But we had cooler weather than
normal this summer. If you can get seeds of whatever you decide on,
you'll get a finished look quicker.

Janine