STEPABLES
By Patricia F. Dawson, M.G. 2002
Do you have a walkway made of stepping stones, or an area subject to a lot of foot traffic you’d like to try your green (highly trained Master Gardener) thumb on?
I have a walkway across my back yard leading over to a Koi pond where I laid irregularly shaped slate stepping stones. It’s frustrating to watch grass, chick weed, and other unwanted plants (aka weeds) grow up between them. Even moving them closer together doesn’t solve the problem. Then there’s a path where my wonderful four-legged children like to follow on their way to check out a testy squirrel when they see one. I also have a very shady area with shallow to no soil cover, which grow rocks very well, in which I’d like to fill in the rocky crevices with moss or something that will soften the edges of the sharp rocks. What to do, what to do?
Someone at a Master Gardener meeting mentioned something called “stepables,” and I instantly wanted to know more. Just hearing the name made me think I could use such a thing to my advantage.
Doing research, I discovered that there is a company in Salem, Oregon, that specializes in such plants and has trademarked the name Stepables, and has a website named, oddly enough, stepables.com. There are over 120 plants in their line and their logo is
“LOOK FOR THE FOOTY”
These are plants able to withstand being “walked on” without being squashed or harmed. As I would have guessed, most stepables are nicely spreading ground covers, but are not invasive. Sounds like a good choice for my needs.
What else are they? To my surprise, some put out a pleasant fragrance when bruised by a passing foot and are, in actuality, herbs of one sort or another. There are varieties that tolerate light, moderate, or heavy foot traffic; there are, even within the group by how much foots (or, is it feet?) traffic a plant tolerates, ones that require varying amounts of sun exposure, from full to part sun to shade or to part shade.
Water requirements vary from low to medium to high. Like “normal” plants, they vary by height, though more are less than 6” tall, by growth rate, by zone, by soil condition, by foliage and by flower color.
Some potential uses of stepables are around patios, herb gardens, ponds, mail boxes, children’s or pet’s play areas, pathways, entryways, and curbs as well as many others limited only by your imagination. I could even picture substituting some of these fellows for lawn…in places I didn’t want to mow or where mowing is difficult.
I was also surprised to see some familiar plant names with varieties that were “stepable” such as two versions of dianthus (Sternkissen and Tiny Rubies); 9 varieties of sedum (Baby Tears, Coral Carpet, hispanicum minus, Purple Form, lydium, Golden Carpet, humifusum, pachyclados, and John Creech); one variety of chamomile (Roman); many varieties of thymus (11 varieties of sun herbs in this category); at least one variety of lotus (Plenus); one variety of euonymus; one pennyroyal (Nana); and two varieties of, would you believe, mosses (Irish and Scotch).
First, in using stepables, remember a few rules:
1. Pick the right plant for the right spot. Sun vs. shade, part-sun vs. full sun, etc.
2. Gauge how much foot traffic: light (occasional); moderate (once or twice a day); and heavy.
3. Consider the amount of drainage the area you have in mind has. Keep the site as level as possible.
4. Water well after first planting and maintain a regular watering schedule until they are established, just like all newly planted plants.
5. Determine how many to plant: tight spaces between paving stones would allow you to split up a bushy plant, while larger areas would benefit from planting the whole plant.
So, if you need a plant that is durable, dependable, and tough, consider using a stepable to meet some of your difficult landscaping requirements. Or, if you’d rather, use them in some of your less difficult ones. Sounds like the perfect plant, doesn’t it?! I’m already staking out locations to put mine when they arrive at my home.