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California Gardening

Ground cover between flag stones

bettyn_gardener

15 years ago

I would appreciate any suggestions or trouble shooting feedback...

I live in Sunset Zone 14 - Davis.

Last summer we hired a landscaper to lay a flagstone path around a raised bed and on a short path to a water fountain. Each stone is individually set on concrete with soil and a drip system between the stones. He planted a variety of plants - blue star creeper, Scotch moss, sedum and several varieties of thyme. The sedum, which is planted on the edges of the path are doing pretty well. The thyme is getting established in just a few areas. I planted another two flats of creeping thyme early this spring. Most of it has died off. The path has areas of both sun and shade. There doesn't seem to be any consistency in terms of what areas make it and areas that die off.

Is there a variety of thyme that is tougher than others and tolerant of different light conditions? A friend suggested that I seed it with dichondra. What do you think about that?

One other thing - we do have two dogs - Mini Schnauzers. There doesn't seem to be a relationship between where they do their business and where the plants have died.

Thanks in advance for your help!

BettyN

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Comments (7)

davissue_zone9
15 years ago
I have a flagstone walkway laid on sand, and have experimented with just about every groundcover offered. I've found woolly thyme is the most foolproof and vigorous of all the things I've tried. I think part of your problem is that the flagstones were set on mortar. With our hot summers, the groundcover needs to get it's roots underneath the cool rock to survive, and you've prevented that from being able to happen. With just the small crack to grow in, I think the plants are having a hard time. Dicondra would not be happy with that degree of reflected heat from the stones and would do poorly in the full sun areas. It might survive in part shade with copious amounts of water. It does get attacked by flea beetles here though, and rarely looks as nice as it does in the bay area.
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bettyn_gardener
Original Author
15 years ago
davissue,

Thanks for the feedback! I had my doubts about the dicondra so I'm not going to go with that.

I think my description was not clear enough... the concrete is set only under the flagstone - kind of like little islands - so the spaces between the flagstone are sand, then dirt.. I think you may be right about the coolness of the stone - the roots can't go under the stone - just straight down. The spaces are about 3-5" between stones.

BettyN
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http://www.stepables.com/

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hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
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I have Dymondia. It needs water about once every two weeks in summer. It grows very dense and tight to the ground.
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davissue_zone9
15 years ago
Unfortunately, it's not reliably hardy here.
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davisgard
15 years ago
I'm in Davis, too, and I tried planting blue star creeper in between flagstones (which I set in sand). Mine died off, even though it was in a partial shade area. I probably had only 1-2 inches in between stones, but my "diagnosis" was similar to Davissue's--I think the stone just got too hot and there wasn't enough moisture for the blue star creeper (which I love!) to make it.
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bettyn_gardener
Original Author
15 years ago
I would have thought that with wider spacing and a drip system that goes on every morning, the blue star creeper would have made it.

I think my next try will be woolly thyme. I'm assuming I should wait until fall to put it in...

BettyN
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