divaqs's Blog

Garden Stone Steps
Jul 3, 2007 | 9:14 AM PST
Tags: Corsican mint , Elfin Thyme , Creeping Thyme , Stone Steps

In my yard and landscape I like having a balance between the wild of nature and an ordered structure to things. My favorite parts of my yard are the areas that are a little more on the wild side. I think of it as being a kind of structured chaos or Japanesque style of landscaping.

An example of this is the garden rock steps my wife and I put together a few years back.

 

These are by no means the symmetrical steps you would see if done by brick or wood. If you tried hard, you could almost imagine that they had somehow by pure chance fallen in this arrangement on their own. Yet, they serve their function as being an easy access way from one level of the yard to another.

To give them an even more organic and wild look to them my wife picked out and  planted various herbs in the nooks and crannies with exposed soil.

Elfin Thyme

 

Creeping thyme

 

Corsican Mint

 

Plus there is a stray ostrich fern and some strawberries that voluntary joined the party.

The low growing Corsican mint and Thyme plants are great for things like this, since they can withstand some foot traffic and give off some wonderful smells when rubbed against. Both are fine in some shade. The Thyme is a bit more drought tolerant than the mint, though the mint has a stronger and more pleasant scent.