Groundcover between flagstone

17 years ago

Hi, I was hoping someone could help me. I installed a flagstone patio in my backyard (San Diego, CA). I have been attempting to find a groundcover that fills in the gaps and I've had the following experience/problems:

First, I used thyme (perhaps a creeping time). It did fairly well, but it grew too high and the runners were too long (such that they began to cover the flagstones). I pulled it all out.

I then tried Wooly Thyme and it worked GREAT. It stayed short and it didn't spread out too far. The only problem was that I could not keep up with the weeds that grew within the plants. I couldn't possibly pull out every single "weedling" or I would have another full time job.

Now I don't know what to try next. I'm open to a iceplant as long as it stays short and doesn't send runners out all over the stones. I am also concerned if it flowers too much. We have a baby on the way and I don't want to worry about bee stings if he goes out to run in the yard. Any suggestions?

Comments (3)

chazz_man
Original Author
17 years ago
I'm sorry... I should have mentioned that the area in question receives full sun. Half of the yard is shaded by the house during the morning. Once the sun clears the house, it gets sun all day until it sets.

I DID notice that when I was using the Wooly TIme, the weeds were worst near the house (in that early-shaded section). In the higher sun area, the weeds are minimal and the Wooly Thyme did much better.
funktree
17 years ago
I like dichondra in mine, it took a while to get established but now it looks nice and doesn't over grow the walkway, it does require some water, mine gets some overspray from the lawn sprinklers.
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philosopher
17 years ago
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!