Thyme and Irish Moss in between Paving Stones
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Linda Meldrum
Posted on: June 12, 2005

I have just had my smallish back garden filled in with square-cut Wireton flagstone, leaving spaces of about 3" (7.5 cm). I am trying to figure out what to plant in the spaces. Half of the yard is in shade most of the time (under large maple) and the other half gets sun 1/2 of the day.

I figure that I have approximately 500 linear feet (170 metres) of spacing to fill.

I live in North Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

I am interested in your plug trays because of the extent of the planting required (time and cost). My gardener has said that a lot of the creeping thyme in the area was lost this year because of winter kill.

What do you think about lemon carpet thyme?

The purple carpet lemon thyme would be your best choice, since it is the hardiest thyme we offer.

Or Irish moss. I understand that you no longer sell the latter. If you think that is a better solution, do you know of a nursery that sells plug packs of this.

I am not aware that we ever sold Irish moss plants. We did sell dried oak moss as a fixative for a while. However if you want moss between your paving stones under the trees, collect some moss from an area similar in regards to shade to yours, put it into a blender with some buttermilk or plain yogourt, blend until fairly broken up, thin with water and pour into the cracks and then keep moist. If you collect the moss when it is making capsules,(wait until they seem mature-usually when they turn brown) you will have faster results, because spores will be present too to start plants.

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