Gardener baffled as creeping thyme spills over flagstone instead of filling the cracks

A gardener’s attempt to get creeping thyme to neatly fill the gaps between flagstones turned into a relatable landscaping headache when the plant started spilling over the stones instead.

In a Reddit gardening discussion, one user shared their frustration that their creeping thyme seemed determined “to creep into the cracks, not cover the flagstone” — the exact opposite of the tidy stone-path look they had hoped for.

A close-up of vibrant pink flowers growing between stones covered with moss.

Photo Credit: Reddit

Commenters were quick to reassure the poster that this is pretty normal behavior for creeping thyme, a low-growing ground cover often planted between pavers. Several people explained that the plant tends to spread outward in circular patches and may simply need more space, more time, or regular trimming to stay where you want it.

Others suggested the problem may be partly structural. Commenters in the Reddit thread said spacing the stones farther apart would leave more ground for the thyme, while removing some soil from the gaps could keep the plants sitting lower than the tops of the stones instead of sprawling across them.

The thread also took a playful turn, with one highly upvoted commenter joking, “Have you tried yelling at it?” Another summed up the experience of many gardeners perfectly: “Plants can be notoriously contrary.”

Gardeners in the thread offered a few simple ideas: give the plant more room between stones, set it slightly lower than the stone surface, and, as one commenter suggested in the Reddit discussion, trim back growth that spreads onto the flagstone so the plant focuses on the soil-filled gaps.

A few commenters said creeping ground covers can take a few growing seasons to fill in evenly, and some said they periodically divide and replant sections to encourage better coverage.

“It’s its job to creep. It’s your job to make it look like you want it to,” one commenter wrote. Another playfully added, “It just takes some thyme…”

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