When I built the cobblestone path that would guide you to the (now finished) cobblestone patio, I had a certian thing in mind.  The cobblestones where nice, and I thought it would be wonderful to try and establish creeping thyme between them and I even went so far as to leave some of the stones out so that I had intermittent rectangles that could completely fill with the thyme.  I dreamed of graphc paterns in foliage in stone that released its fragrance whenever I passed….Sounds lovely right?  Wrong…this is what it looked like.  In my garden, the thyme isn’t the week choking thug I hoped it would be, and neither was the tiny sedum that I tried after I gave up on it.  Something needed to be done.

The big gaps between the stones that were meant to provide root area and encourage beautiful mounding tufts need to go, so last week my mom and I carefully lifted each stone, cleaned all the weeds out and cleared the gravel and soil that was surrounding each stone and we reset them.

But the weed and gravel removal is only half the soltuion.

The other half was to fill the path with polymeric sand.  Polymeric sand – unlike regular sand – is polymer fortified and when set (by lightly wetting) it will harden and discourage weeds and insects.  It is so easy to work with, you just sweep it into the cracks. I used it on the patio and it has made the world of difference in keeping the joints clean.  It isn’t soft green fragrant plants, but it is beautiful and reminds me of the streets of some of my favorite European cities.  Albeit not what I originally had in mind, it is a perfectly satisfying compromise don’t you think?

Images by rochelle greayer

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Lowes.  This is a series that I am doing through the end of the year.   I am not an employee of Lowes and all opinions are my own.  See the other posts in this series.