Have you ever walked along a gravel path and felt like something was missing?
While lots of American homeowners have incorporated gravel paths into their landscape design, many struggle to find the right plants to bring these spaces to life. The secret lies in the strategic placement of plants along the path’s edges, creating a stunning, inviting walkway that beckons visitors to explore further.
To help you transform your gravel path from drab to fab, we bring you the top 10 plants that will elevate your outdoor space to new heights.
1. Creeping Thyme (Thymus serpyllum)
A classic choice for gravel paths, creeping thyme is a low-growing, evergreen perennial that forms a dense, fragrant mat. It can handle light foot traffic and blooms in shades of pink, purple, or white during the summer months, attracting pollinators to your garden. When crushed, the tiny leaves release a pleasant aroma. (ref)
2. Blue Star Creeper (Isotoma fluviatilis)
Drought-tolerant and thriving in full sun to partial shade, blue star creeper is a fast-spreading groundcover that creates a lush, blue-green carpet along gravel paths. In spring and summer, delicate, star-shaped flowers add a charming touch of color to the landscape.
3. Dwarf Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Nanus’)
Planting dwarf mondo grass along your gravel path creates a sleek, modern look with its dark green, almost black foliage that provides a striking contrast against the light-colored gravel. This grass-like perennial grows to a height of just 2-4 inches, forming a tidy, low-maintenance border.
4. Scotch Moss (Sagina subulata)
For paths in cooler, damper areas of the garden, consider Scotch moss, a soft, cushiony groundcover that thrives in partial to full shade and requires consistent moisture. It forms a lush, bright green carpet and features tiny white flowers in late spring, adding a delicate touch to the landscape.
5. Sedum (Sedum spp.)
Offering a range of foliage colors and textures, sedums are a diverse group of succulents, with many low-growing varieties like ‘Blue Spruce’ or ‘Angelina’ being well-suited for gravel paths. These drought-tolerant plants provide year-round interest with their colorful leaves and star-shaped flowers while thriving in full sun.
6. Mazus (Mazus reptans)
Adaptable to various soil types and tolerant of light foot traffic, mazus is a fast-spreading, low-growing perennial that forms a dense mat of green foliage, making it an ideal choice for gravel paths. In spring, it produces a profusion of small, snapdragon-like flowers in shades of purple or white.
7. Brass Buttons (Leptinella squalida)
Brass buttons offer a unique touch to gravel paths with their distinct bronzy-green, finely textured, fern-like foliage. This low-growing, evergreen groundcover spreads slowly via rhizomes, forming a dense, weed-suppressing mat over time.
8. Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia)
With its round, bright green leaves and small, cup-shaped yellow flowers in summer, creeping Jenny creates a cheerful display along gravel paths. This vigorous, low-growing perennial thrives in moist, well-drained soil and can tolerate partial shade to full sun.
9. Corsican Sandwort (Arenaria balearica)
Corsican sandwort is a tiny, mat-forming perennial that thrives in partial to full shade and requires consistent moisture. Its moss-like foliage creates a lush, green carpet that hugs the contours of the gravel path, while delicate, white star-shaped flowers appear in spring.
10. Irish Moss (Sagina subulata ‘Aurea’)
Irish moss, an evergreen groundcover, features soft, golden-green foliage that forms a dense, cushiony mat capable of handling light foot traffic. This low-growing plant produces tiny white flowers in late spring, adding a delicate charm to the landscape and making it an excellent choice for gravel paths.
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Nancy has been a plant person from an early age. That interest blossomed into a bachelor’s in biology from Elmira College and a master’s degree in horticulture and communications from the University of Kentucky. Nancy worked in plant taxonomy at the University of Florida and the L. H. Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University, and wrote and edited gardening books at Rodale Press in Emmaus, PA. Her interests are plant identification, gardening, hiking, and reading.