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I e got mixed ground covers planted around stepping stones. The area is not walked on that much. The ground covers seem to die every so often.

I’m interested in care for these as I feel sometimes they die due to overwater and sometimes they die rapidly (healthy one day, dead a week later). I’m in Australia and summers can be hot. I have a mix and some uncovered areas simply haven’t had anything planted.

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Simon E
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Cute feet Simon...grins! I think you hit it on the head, too much water, too little drainage. The thyme seems to be trying to thrive. I am thinking your edging might be making a dammed up area and causing poor drainage. That thin metal stuff or plastic stuff? If you were to remove that edging give a little fertilizer to your ground covers...they might just take off.

I'd take a rake and rake it all so there is not separation between chips on your bed and gravel of this walkway. Wait to see how the thyme reacts. Depending on the thyme we should be able to figure out the best ground covers for this area and those that share the same needs to plant together for variety/fun.

If it remains wet we'll probably talk about Speedwell, if it gets drier we can think about Portulaca and Woolly Thyme. I would remove those edging things no matter what. Distracting, look dangerous like knives, they aren't doing any function and I think that it is causing poor drainage, yes, even within a couple of inches of the surface.

stormy
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It was (I assume) a walking area, so I think the ground is compact. I would try to move the first 10 centimeters of the ground (maybe you can do also in a small spot, to test). This will help under-watering and over-watering: more water can be stored in ground, so you will have less extreme wet soil, but also some more reserve in case of forgetting watering.

In general, dry tolerant plants tend not to like overwatering. I would recommend creeping/covering plants: (like the thyme, proposed by stormy). The plants roots deeply (the root in one spot should provide nutrients for much surface), and also more tolerant to footsteps.

Giacomo Catenazzi
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