Paths and walkable plantings

I am in love with the idea of walkable plantings and ground covers.

Putting up the fence last fall created a new space for us in the back yard, a space that is a mess for now until we have time to work on it this summer.  The most pressing (for me) is this walkway from the driveway to the gate: we don't use it often since we enter the house through the garage, but it is the first thing you see when you come down our driveway. 

not very pretty or inviting

 

 My grandfather (Pop-pop, read about him here) had a huge garden around the perimeter of his backyard. (He also was a great cook and pie-maker in addition to a great woodworker!).  These pieces of rock/stone were standing on end all the way around.  A few made their way to my mom's house, and last summer they made their way to my house.   That's two states, three cities.  Well travelled stones they are.

 I wish I had more, but this is what I have to work with.  This is just a basic path (mostly thrown down to combat the mud problem with all the rain we've had recently.)  I don't want a manicure, edge path, but rather a random, inviting path with character.

no character, not inviting

 And with the rain comes weeds.  And no grass, because in this part of the yard we have mostly shade, and many attempts at starting grass (including zoysia) have failed.

This is one outside goal for me this summer: Make this an actual pathway, and make it pretty and inviting. 

I'm trying a few things out in this space to see what works.  Above is some moss I've transplanted from other parts of the yard.  Moss can be beautiful in the right space. And it's free.

I've also become interested in a newer term for me: walkable, or stepable landscaping.  Check out this cool website: Stepables.  I was able to find a few plants from this company the other day at my local garden center!

 This particular one was mondo grass.

 For my project, I ended up with some dwarf Herons Bill....

 ....and creeping speedwell.

 Tags are always useful when picking out plants of any kind.  You can see where these tags note the Traffic Tolerance: Moderate right on the tag. 

  And this little fella was completely free!

 So for now the path doesn't look much better.....

 ....but with two new plants and some moss, I'm hoping we're on our way. 

And for some inspiration photos, here are some I used, and some to drool over:

www.landscapingpetaluma.com

www.homepage.mac.com

 Today I also transplanted some hostas to a corner near the path, and that added a lot of interest.  Hopefully in a few weeks I can see some changes.  If not, there is always mulch or pea gravel!  Either way, the weeds will be gone, and it will be improved one way or the other.