That could be why it's just dirt - nothing will grow, but this is an inner city school in a district with major budget issues, and until a few years ago, was pretty neglected over all, so it's also possible there's been no one to care for it properly. I'm just now getting involved. We have an outdoor education program funded mainly by donation and PTA help and sales (herb sales, plant sales), so funds are indeed sparse although we can get man/kidpower and I'm working hard on donations of materials. We do have a few large planters for veg/herbs and another raised bed on one end . We'll be working on that over the next couple of weeks. hmmm, crushed granite. That may be an option. I'll need to see if there's any reason why not. I know some parents have complained about it at another non-school location. Finishing off the edges is definitely a good idea. I'd like to fill it in a bit so it's not so ugly/muddy/dirty, but it also needs to be usable space. I have shadowturf (I think it's the same as turffalo) at my house, just around the corner, and it is AMAZING in heavy shade. but, it's super expensive and spreads far too slowly - if we waited til school's out to plant, it's too hot/dry, but if we plant in March, the plugs would be a mess with school in. And even if we took plugs from my yard to save money, it'd take years to fill in. :( I'm afraid to ask too many questions of the admin in advance, for fear they'll just put me off saying "no, not possible" to general ideas. So I want to plan it out with estimated costs/funding sources and longer term expenses (like watering, altho there is a sprinkler running once per week, no idea why since it's dirt!) before I even bring it up. My short experience has already taught me that "ideas" get shot down immediately, "plans" get consideration. Ideally I'll let the kids do some research into various options, but I'll have to steer them in the right direction ;)

Definitely a veronica. I'm not familiar with Turkish veronica, though maybe I should be. I've been growing Georgia Blue for years, and consider it a must-have plant. The picture looks enough like a stockier, sturdier version of that plant to be a close relative, but not the right ID.

I added another comment to your original post :-) See original [here.[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/non-lawn-low-maintenance-ground-cover-for-pacific-northwest-dsvw-vd~5112534?n=2)

hi there thanks for your posts I looked into Herniaria, and tried to enlagen a bit from the pic I am quite sure, that this is something different, the tiny stalks are kind of smoother. here is a cropped bit from the first pic, perhaps that helps for the details but funnily enough, when looking through the pics again, I think there is some Herniaria glabra growing in a different spot ;-) so, this is a different plant, and I would say: this is Herniaria in the comparison it seems that Herniaria is somewhat "more nobbly" or branching, I try tp post the first pic at another site and will report back, thank, Lin