Outside my home is this rugged stone patio. There's a significant amount of it but the previous homeowners clearly didn't care that their winterizing routine was breaking up the precious mortar holding all the stones in place. With much of it gone and plants starting to take over, what's a girl to do?
In many places, small ground cover has started to fill in and the look has me itching to continue the trend. The combination of soft leaves and hard stone is a good one, but will it ultimately push the stones further apart and do more damage than good?
Is this one of those of those times that beauty doesn't beat out brains? The real catch is that our patio is 20 feet off street level and as the tiles push apart, I fear they'll eventually slide down the hill and break on the street below.
What would you do? Share your thoughts below!
(Image: Sarah Rae Trover)
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Ground cover all the way! I love the look of it in spaces between tiles. My husband and I are about to do a soft set patio in our yard and will intentionally not grout so we can get that moss milkshake stuff to fill in the spaces.
Love the groundcover!
Ground cover is a great idea. Plant something that smells sweet when rubbed up against like thyme. And if you find entire tiles are breaking, consider replacing the entire tile with random squares of ground cover. Over time, water will cause the dirt under those tiles to run off and you may end up with a very uneven and unsafe patio.
You could also try small pebbles or rocks to bridge the gap. Sand/decomposed granite will disappear too quickly.
Good luck and have fun!
Groundcover is great for softening the hard lines and especially if it's something fragrant like thyme or mint but you'll be forever pulling out the undesirable weeds, I know from experience because I've got a front and back garden full of these, and if you don't keep up with weed pulling then larger plants can seed between them and drive tiles apart. So ultimately you have to choose some maintenance if you're choosing groundcover but the maintenance can usually be done 4-6x per year.
If you opt not to do groundcover I strongly suggest you seek out "polymer sand", used by the services installing paver stone driveways and patios, because unlike regular sand or dirt absolutely nothing will grow in it and it also helps stabilize the patio surface (if filled and packed properly).
lemon thyme would look & smell lovely
If you do decide to kill the existing groundcover and go with new stuff, boiling water is a great weedkiller for this situation.
wait! That stuff is purslane, I am pretty sure. It is delicious - add it to salads!