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Q : I am set in a natural rock walk , and I ’d wish proposition for a low creeper between the stones . Would thyme be good?—Edythe Bertoldo , Blairstown , NJ
A : Thyme could be good , bet on the conditions it will be growing in . If the walking is in full Dominicus all mean solar day and on sandy soil ( or with rudimentary crushed rock and gumption ) , it will probably be too dry . Thyme is n’t just a desert industrial plant . True , it demand well - drain stain , but it thrives only when there is a regular provision of wet . However if your grunge holds water fairly well ( but is n’t waterlogged ) , there are some sort of thyme that will serve you well . Thyme can get up to a half - twenty-four hour period of spook and do fine . If the path is shadier than that , then moss is the good choice . The less you utilize this path , the tall the creepers can be ; but for a path you ’ll use daily , stick to plant that literally hug the priming . squelch , upset foliage is not attractive , and something only 3 inches tall will be pestiferous to walk on . Also , remember that any plant is rifle to flower at some power point in natural spring or summertime , and the blossom will be conjure up above the foliage , sometimes several inches higher . Culinary thyme ( Thymus vulgaris ) is too tall . The best candidate is likely wooly thyme ( T. psuedolanuginosus ) , with under a half - column inch of grey foliage and pink flush that rest on top . Or look for a dwarf creeping thyme likeT. serpyllum’Pink Chintz ' , which stay under an inch . A visit to a good local herb glasshouse will be sentence well spend .
Sedums are the most drouth - tolerant blue - growers . Stay away from the diminutive , Sedum Akko , because it is very invasive . Sedum kamschaticum , S. spathulifoliumandS. spurium’Dragon ’s ancestry ' are the best candidates for filling in between your pavers . Since these are improbable , they will look beneficial with a annual trimming , ideally in good order after they blossom . ( They will recover quickly . ) Moss is unvanquishable between pavers , and there are thousands of kinds . Growing your own is gentle — with some patience and usually a niggling shade . Since the spores are in the atmosphere , if you make the correct conditions the moss finally move in , unremarkably in about a twelvemonth . Keep the ground bare : no sens , no leafage litter . For a riotous rug — which will take longer to occupy in — make the soil too acidic for other plants . Moss likes a pH of 5.0 to 5.5 , so have your grime tested and then trim the pH. To take pH down a decimal point , add either yellowed chondritic sulfur or ferrous sulphate . study the label carefully , as the amount you should expend depends on soil character . flaxen soils need less than clay soil . The way you build the path is important , no matter what you ’re planting . Make it at least 2 feet wide . Install an in - earth roadblock along the side to keep grasses from impinge . Lay your pavers very tightly in the meat , leaving the magnanimous gaps for planting along the sides . To set the point for moss and to prevent gage , I suggest acidifying soil in the midriff . If you are using perennial or herb , constitute them along the edge and let them line up their way toward the centre .
