Just a friendly hint, Kathy, but nothing fends off Bermuda grass. Nothing except Roundup, I mean. To keep bermuda out of my perennial beds I lay a single width sod square of zoysia grass along the edges.

Zoysia doesn't grow or spead fast, and bermuda seems to respect its denseness. Fertilizer requirements are the same between the two greass as well, so you don't have the centipede/bermudagrass mix delima.

Hence, the Zoysia bordering works well for me.

Wonderful tip on the zoysia buffer! I wish I'd heard of it earlier!
I think you could try a nice variety of the low growing sedums. They do very well in full sun,don't require watering and will do nicly with the gravel between the stones. Sedum can be really cheap because you can buy fewer plants and just break them up, even one leaf will multiply. So the more you walk and break little pieces off the more plants will grow.

I have good success with ajuga in between the flagstones. When it rain, I just gouge out a bit of soil and pop in a plant to fill in it usually works. I, too, wish I had the zoysia information before I laid the bermuda sod to outline the path. It helps to use the edger along the bermuda but vigilance is key.

So if I lay the zoysia sod will it go dormant at the same times as the bermuda? Or will I be able to obviuosly tell it is a different grass?

I was just thinking about sedums. I have tons of "Vroomp's sedum" but I think that would cover the path stones in all. Maybe I will do a mix of different sedums. So I need to add some poclets of dirt between the stones since everything below is compacted clay, so for sedum should I use something special or can I jsut buy a bag of garden soil do you think? I would think the gravel between the stones would guarantee enough drainage.

I was thinking of using this as a good excuse to finally go to the growers outlet. Do you think I'll find some decent groundcovers there? I saw in their ad they have them for
$1 each, but it just doesn't say what kind of course.

I have a flagstone path that's about the same size, and is also in full sun. I've purchased many different types of ground-covers for this over the past few years and there are only 2 that really do well for me, and are worth having....

Lysimachia nummularia 'aurea' (golden creeping jenny) and variegated pennywort. The sedums unfortunantly, won't be able to handle a lot of "foot-traffic", but these other two groundcovers hold up real well. The foliage on these ends up looking "miniaturized" close to the flagstones.

I don't know I have the tiny sedums between flagstone on my landings going up to my backyard and they handle the traffic very well.
If you select sedum you can just plant them with the rocks, no need for any nice dirt.
Creeping Jenny will needs some shade and lots of water.

The varigated pennywort and creeping jenny do seem like they would need a lot more water than I will get there. Sedum sounds like it might work better for my conditions. What about blue star creeper or various creeping thymes? I don't have to worry about it getting into beds it is bordered by timbers, deck, and bermuda grass. I do have some fairy roses planted around one small spot, but that is it.

Yes, I neglected to say that I'm a fanatic about watering, so my groundcovers, along with everything else, do get quite a bit of water. But, the creeping jenny 'aurea' must have full sun to keep the golden colored leaves....

I've managed to kill every sedum I've planted in my path, but that's only because mine is a very high traffic area. Honestly, if I had it to do all over again, I would have laid the flagstones in concrete. Weeding in between those groundcoveres is a real chore, although since I've started using Preen there, it does seem to help some.

wildflower, maybe it is the watering that was too much for the sedums?
I don't imagine that whatever I plant will get stepped on all that much since I am using large pieces of stone-- so hopefully people will step on those.

Kathy, I don't think so since I have sedums everywhere outside the path. Anyhow, good luck to you whatever you decide!

I have a 60ft fieldstone path with both blue star creeper and some thyme mixed in. The thyme will over power the blue star.The blue star grows pretty fast and fills in nice and the little flowers last for about a month and then on and off again throughout the summer.Also have a path with Mazus and one with creeping jenny. Both get alot of sun and both do great, especially the Mazus

Okay I went all the way to the grwoers outlet, but didn't find anything suitable, so after filling my car there with other stuff that I really didn't "need" I went to HD and bought a flat of Blue Star Creeper and then stopped at GardenWright and bought some red thyme and some wooly thyme and a couple fo a varigated thyme (that one get's up to 6 inches, but I am going to plant that off the side of the path) I also have some purple creeping thyme that I can divide and plant there so I guess I am doing patches of various thyme and then some spots of Blues star.

thanks for all the ideas.

Kathy,

From experience with zoysia/bermuda grass mixes, I can say they green up and go brown at about the same time. If you have a hybrid bermuda like Tiflawn, you can cut both the zoysia and bermuda at the same height.

The mixing is an old landscaper's trick. You've probably passed right by the combo in use and never noticed. Now, if you're looking for it or are overly aware (i.e. you planted it), then of course you'll see a difference. Otherwise, it's definately worth a shot in a small patch as an experiment.

I would think if you need more blue star creeper and thyme NO Longer Bound ,which is really close to you might be cheaper.

Kathy...

I have blue star creeper on my path between my Rose Garden and my Herb Garden. It's planted in full sun and has done really well. I do NOTHING to it. It fends for itself and has spread really nice but not overpowering if you know what I mean. I think you'll be happy with it!!

Yeah the path is done!!! Finally a project completed. I am so happy with how it looks. hopefully all my gorundcovers will take. Myabe I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it.