We swapped conventional pathway materials and renovated part of our our landscaping with a soft, green, low-maintenance steppable groundcover path. Visitors often ask about it and our dog loves having a lush paw-friendly path for prowling (and other doggy business). Here’s how to plan, plant, and care for a steppable ground coverpath, like ours, or other no-mow steppable green spaces in your garden.
Goodbye Gritty Gravel
Our edible garden area and neighbouring side pathway between the house and hedge/fence was finished in a gritty gravel. It was permeable, low-maintenance and easy to rake and keep tidy. But it was gritty and uncomfortable for walking on, not that I make barefoot gardening a habit, but you could tell that our aging Dalmatian was not a fan. It also got stuck on the bottoms of shoes and tracked around, creating a mess on the patio and elsewhere.
And although it was permeable, it did have a tendency to pack down with time and travel. Some people might like this feature, but we like to keep things as free-draining as possible. Our clay soil has slowly made huge progress and water is no longer a problem, outside of extreme weather. But still, surface materials and plantings make a big difference.
Selecting Surface Materials for Garden Paths
Noting above that hardscaping with impermeable materials was not a potential consideration for our edible garden and path areas, we considered different surface options for expected traffic, care and maintenance, appearance, and budget.
We opted for small rounded stones for the passageways around the the edible garden areas and some other access ways, with grids for extra stability in the few areas that would receive regular rolling with heavy objects like bins. The stone is rounded, doesn’t compact, and is softer underfoot (and under paw) than gravel. It’s still rakeable, although not as zen as the gravel, and the subtle colour variations are attractive, which is a great bonus.
For the side pathway, we decided to take a different route completely and plant a soft steppable groundcover. Unlike the edible garden area, the side pathway isn’t heavily travelled by foot, wheelbarrow, etc. but it does take a lot of regular paw traffic from Humphrey and his furfriends. Unlike the immediate gratification of using something like stone, opting for groundcover requires extra prep, planning, and patience but we love the final result, as does Humphrey.
Steppable Groundcover Plants
Steppable groundcover plants are low-growing spreading perennials that can handle varying degrees of foot traffic. They can be used to create steppable pathways and other greenspaces, or as alternatives to grass lawn. The options will vary with your local climate, aspect, soil conditions, and expected type and level of traffic.
Climate, aspect, and soil conditions are standard for any type of plant you’re considering for your garden. But expected traffic is a special consideration here, as well as factors like mature height, seasonal variations, and the desired level of ongoing maintenance. Some plants are tough enough to handle occasional stepping but not regular footfall, while others might be steppable but too tall for comfortable movement along a pathway or between pavers. And if you anticipate barefoot (or bare paw) traffic, softness and flowering bee-safety are also factors.
Considerations for Steppable Groundcover Plant Selection:
- Local climate. What types of groundcover plants are available for planting in your local area? Will you need a groundcover that is evergreen? How do the different planting options vary with your changing seasons?
- Specific site aspect and soil conditions. Check your planned planting area for factors like sun exposure and drainage. If you have varied conditions, also consider whether they might affect appearance, health, or uniformity of your finished pathways or other groundcover space.
- Ongoing maintenance. Do you want a set-and-forget plant, or are you ok with ongoing maintenance, like occasional mowing?
- Speed of growth and spread. How quickly do you hope to fully establish your new green space? Are you looking for a vigorous spreader or budgeting for closer starting plantings to speed things up?
- Expected traffic. How much traffic and what type of traffic do you expect? Will the plants be on a regularly walked path where they need to be easily travelled and very durable? Do you expect bare feet that need a soft plant and/or where flowering might pose issues, especially if anyone has bee allergies?
- Other aesthetic factors. Personal preference for colours, flowers, height, etc.
Selecting a Steppable Groundcover
Ready to pick a plant? You can choose from available groundcover options that fit your budget, bearing in mind the considerations above for what would suit your climate, growing area, and intended use. You might like to head to a local nursery for a look. Searching or shopping online is handy, but I like to touch and feel real plants.
Once you’ve picked a few favourites, consider how much of an area you need to cover, the speed at which you’re hoping to fill it, and options for sourcing your plants. Some can be started from seed, others you could propagate from cuttings, or you can buy ready-to-plant specimens either from a nursery or specialist supplier. You can also ask them for help with selecting a plant or plants to suit your needs.
If you have a big area to cover, consider looking into specialist bulk suppliers in your area to compare products and prices. I special ordered our leptinella from NoMow, a specialist online supplier here in New Zealand. They arrived in great condition in large trays, carefully spacer packed on a freight pallet.
Popular Steppable Groundcover Plants:
- Grass. Traditional lawn is a steppable groundcover of sorts, although frequent mowing is higher maintenance than we’re looking for here, haha. Low growing grasses of other varieties, like dwarf mondo, can be semi-steppable and work well in areas like edging or between pavers and stepping stones.
- Herniaria (rupturewort) is a tough and tolerant groundcover.
- Creeping thyme is a great groundcover (we use it as living mulch under our fruit trees). It is steppable and durable, I often have to stand on ours while doing chores, but bee-friendly and barefoot (or bare paw) aren’t great companions.
- Leptinella comes in different varieties with varying colour and tolerance, but it is a beautiful soft low-growing groundcover that can stand up to stepping. We chose to use leptinella dioica (close-up below) and love the result.
- Mazus is a tough and tolerant option for traffic on paths or steppable green areas, and is a low-grower for easy care and comfortably stepping across.
- Meuhlenbeckia is a NZ native groundcover that tolerates light foot traffic. I have a personal dislike for it due to its creeping stems climbing into our garden from the neighbours, so be wary and ensure you have good edging.
- Selliera is a soft steppable groundcover, but is less tolerant about preferred conditions than other options, so check your aspect and drainage carefully.
- Snow-in-Summer is steppable, but, in our experience, it is too high to be used comfortably anywhere that requires frequent stepping. We do have it as a low-growing edging plant elsewhere in our garden and it’s very tolerant to my occasional stepping for access during chores and being stopped on by dogs. Be careful, it can be invasive.
Planning and Prepping for Planting
Calculating Your Area for Planting
Break out the measuring tape and notepad. Once you’ve measured up and calculated the area you want to plant, consider how quickly you want to fill the area vs. the starting cost of your chosen plants. Larger plants or closer plantings can speed things along, but will cost more up front. Again, your nursery or supplier can help you with recommendations on options for planting sizes, spacings, and costs.
Edging and Hardscaping
Unless you’re going full free range with your groundcover, consider whether you’ll need to add edging. Most groundcovers are spreaders and some also self-sow for further spread if allowed to flower and set seed. What makes a great groundcover in one area can make a pesky weed elsewhere, so plan, select, and edge accordingly.
If you’re planning on planting a groundcover between pavers of steppers, make sure that the gaps are wide enough give the plants soil and space to grow, but not so wide as to make for uncomfortable stepping.
Our steppable groundcover pathway has brick paver edging, with the laundry patio at one terminal end and a metal edging strip at the other end where the path meets the round stones of our edible garden area. The leptinella still needs occasional trimming back from attempts to creep over the edging. I’m pretty ruthless and will run along the edges of the pathway with the lawn edger periodically, and sometimes hit it with the string trimmer and a full mow, too if it gets a bit too lofty. More on that below.
Soil Preparation
Prepare the soil in your planting area to suit your chosen groundcover plants. Your planting area will be vulnerable to weeds, especially while there is bare soil until the groundcover is fully established, so get things as weed-free as possible before hand, either with soil prep or soil section if you’re adding fresh soil. We dug out all of the existing pathway and replaced the ground with a mix of screened soil and compost.
Planting Out Your Pathway
Friendly Weather
If you need to walk on your prepared soil during planting, like I did with our path, then it’s better when the weather is dry. In addition to being generally more pleasant for working, you don’t want to compact your soil by stomping around while its wet.
If you’re able to transplant on a coolish cloudy day or while the area is shaded, you can work without the added worry of further stressing your plants in the hot sun. That’s good for transplanting in general, but extra helpful if you’re working a bit slower with trays that need to be cut apart into segments for planting, either as a grid for a path or other greenspace, or to fit in between pavers and steppers.
Spacing Out in Preparation for Planting
Although I’d already calculated out a rough plan for planting before buying, I still found it helpful to pace and space things out before cutting and planting.
Slice and Dice
If you’re starting with trays, you’ll probably want to cut them into smaller segments (plugs) to spready out your initial plantings to, in time, cover a far greater area. It can be a very cost-effective option for buying your groundcovers, depending on suppliers. For ready-to-use plants or plugs, skip on to the next section.
I like to cut upside down, if seperating plants that will tolerate it, and steppable groundcovers will be fine with some topsy turvey. I find it easier if I can see the root side while slicing and pulling the plugs apart. You can tip out your trays and cut the groundcover with a gardening knife or sharp shovel. I’m working on top of my pathway – any extra dirt or little bits of plant will just merge right in afterwards.
Spacing and Staggering Groundcover Plants
For filling between pavers and other gaps, it’s fine to just plant a space row between the gaps. But for larger areas, I like a stagger pattern. Totally optional, of course! As you can see in the photos here, my pathway was planted in alternating offset rows on leptinella dioica. If your plantings go to plan, it will all be one uniform groundcover carpet once fully established. But the stagger helps with spread until fully filled in and merged.
You can batch plant or lay out the whole area, depending on plant, size, weather, and stress. Whatever you choose, check and double check that you’re happy with the plants and their placements. Ready? Dig in. The groundcover plugs should be individually planted level with your soil and pressed firmly into place along the path.
Care While Establishing the Groundcover
Post-Transplant Care
Immediately after planting, care is similar to any other transplants. You can give them a light dose of seaweed solution to help with transplant shock, if you’d like. Water them in well, taking care with your steps as you move along the pathway. Patience is cheaper than buying more plants.
Traffic Control
Depending on your plants and location, you might want to restrict access during the early stage of establishment to let the plants settle in and roots get stablished. But this might not be possible in some areas so step with care. The dogs still travelled our path without any problems, other than occasional muddy paw prints on the laundry patio at the end of the path. I also needed to walk carefully along the path for watering access.
Watering
Like most young plants, pay extra attention to watering during the establishment stage. The watering needs will depend on your chosen plants, aspect, and weather.
Weeding
Although some weeding will be needed for the lifetime of your groundcover pathway if you’re hoping to keep it weed free, keep a close watch on the bare earth stage and early establishment. Early weeding is better than trying to separate out an established clump of weeds from your groundcover. Something invasive winding its way into your path? I find it better to be ruthless than regretful later, sometimes a section might need to be sacrificed and replaced to get things back in order.
Establishment Timeline
The timeline to fully establish your steppable groundcover pathway will vary depending on your plant, spacings, and conditions. As noted above, the tighter the spacings and/or more vigorous the spread of the chosen plan, the faster it should fill your space. But you also need to consider your plant preferences and budget.
Our leptinella dioica pathway was fully established merged within an annual cycle. We planted it in summer and it was a uniform carpet by the following spring. It does tend to get a little sparse in areas during the winter, but quickly perks back up again.
Long Term Groundcover Pathway Care
Long term, the general care for your groundcover will be whatever is needed for your chosen plant in terms of watering, feeding, and trimming, with a few possible special considerations for pathway care and maintenance.
If your pathway is well-travelled and the soil starts to get compacted, you may need to loosen things up with manual aeration. I joke to my husband that my regular weeding out of invaders also does double-duty as aeration on our path. Depending on your plant’s needs and placement, if feeding in needed, liquid fertilisers or solutions may be easier to safely apply and/or to avoid tracking.
Depending on your plants and preferences, you might occasionally need to give things a trim for height or a generally tidy appearance. As mentioned above, our leptinella pathways is a low-growing no-mow plant, but I still move it from time to time. This keeps things from getting too tall but also helps to even out the pathway. We have a varying aspect of sun and shade along the path between the shadows of the hedge and house, time of day and season depending. If things are looking a little scruffy, a quick pass with the lawnmower is usually enough to tidy it up.
