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Gardening with Stone

HELP!!!! Space between Flagstone

18 years ago

I am having a crisis as I just came home and the flagstone that was laid today has space ranged from 4-8 inches. I was told that the space if you are using groundcover should be approximately two inches. Any feedback before tommorrow morning would be greatly appreciated.

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Comments (4)

outsideplaying_gw
18 years ago
No expert in stone work speaking here, but we just had a flagstone patio & walkways installed and there is about 1.5-2 inches between the stones (less in some spots). We have mortared installation, no groundcover. However, it almost sounds like your installer was trying to skimp on the stones, but in fairness maybe he misunderstood what you wanted to do. If you are using groundcover, what type are you using, how rapid is its growth, and how do you expect to use the area (lots of walking on it or not, mowing over it or not, for example).
Hyperboy
18 years ago
Sorry I missed your June 23rd deadline, but I ran into a similar situation. I bought enough dinnerplate and smaller sized pieces of 2" or so thick sandstone (obviously, I don't know the specific stone terms yet)to fill in a triangular shape leading to a gigantic rose arbor I built. I left a gap of 4-6" between each stone, thinking it would fill in nicely with groundcover. For some reason, I've always liked Gold Dust Alyssum, so I planted it between the stones. In the middle, however, I selected a low-growing sedum. Well, in no time, the Alyssum grew up and all-but covered the stone. When it bloomed and died back... well, let's just say it wasn't the effect I was after. So choosing the right plant to use between the stones is key.
I'm going to reposition the stones, leaving little, if any, gap between them. Obviously, I'll need more stone, or I can plant groundcover off to each side.
By the way, putting the stones and the groundcover in an area that served as my only way from the house to the shed was a BAD idea. I hated to roll a wheelbarrow over the stones and plants.
If one learnes from one's mistakes, I should be teaching by now.

Hyperboy.
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Can I plant between flagstones that have DG between them?
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I would check with some gardeners in your zone to see if your plan is feasible; in your zone I am wondering. It is not clear from your post what your soil type is, or how much rainfall you get. Before digging holes between 2" thick flagstones , I would want to know if there were any locally available plants that could survive in those conditions. You don't just have DG between your flagstones, but as an underlayment as well. How thick is that, and are the flagstones far enough apart to actually dig holes? You could easily green up the patio with a few potted plants that favor your zone 10 conditions, perhaps flanking a nice fountain, and edge or juxtapose the patio with herbs or other plants of your choice with flagstones between them. That would allow you to test a number of plants in your zone to see how they would respond to those conditions. I am in zone 6b, so hopefully others in your zone can be more helpful. It sounds like you have a nice patio right now, and I am assuming you expect to place plants that will last and look good for a long time. The specific plants you select would dictate how large and deep the planting holes would have to be, and what soil type would need to be added.
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This may not be to your taste, but there's a native perennial lippia (Phyla nodiflora) that does very well between stepping stones. I've never seen it available for sale, but you may already have it as a lawn weed, or if you keep an eye out for it during its blooming season, you might easily spot it between the cracks of a sidewalk near you. I found some among the weeds along an asphalt bike path a few blocks from our home and transplanted it into our yard last spring. It does (obviously) have weedy tendencies (I now have two patches of it across the yard from where I planted it, in addition to to the patch that I actually planted), but so do purple alyssum and really most plants that do well between stepping stones. If it shows up somewhere you don't want it, it's easy to pull. Most importantly, to my mind, it's quite pretty, remains in bloom for about six months (May through October), stays absolutely flat to the ground, and seems perfectly happy to bake in dry, cracked clay all summer but sit underwater for weeks in the winter. I'm expecting mine to die back to its roots for a short time in winter (though it's shown no sign of doing so yet) - but in places with milder winters, such as the Bay Area, it's evergreen. Here is a link that might be useful: CalPhotos: Phyla nodiflora
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Hi-- It's been a while since the OP posted this message, but I thought I'd comment. We had the same problem with the flagstone and the weeds, but we solved it by pulling up the flagstone, laying landscape cloth under it, and then cutting slits wherever we wanted to plant some groundcover. When we re-laid the stones, we left enough space in between to allow the plants some space to grow. The slits in the landscape cloth also tend to limit the growth. Good luck!
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Thymus serpyllum (creeping thyme) is a good choice in your location, for that purpose.
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skygardening
18 years ago
Wouldn't it depend on the size of the flagstone and the size of your natural walk step? Mine are about 15" steping stones, (not flagstone) and mine are about 1 1/2" to 2" apart. That is a natural step for me to take on all the 14 stones.
Sky~~
KrazyKim
18 years ago
My husband put in our flagstone walk. On the top he filled in with stones. The steps leading to the driveway, my Mom cut strips of Irish moss and put them between. They've grown in nicely and are a beautiful deep green and now have delicate white flowers. A greenhouse I frequent has a line called "steppables" groundcover that will take foot traffic. Kinda cool. I have some kind of thyme variety, they have filled in very well too. They aren't between stones but I would be happy with either the Irish moss or the steppables there.

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