I've used creeping thyme in our front walk. It's beautiful, smells lovely, etc. I haven't noticed "slippery" problems, but a fuzzy (as opposed to shiny) leaf variety might provide better protection from that. You do need to trim it back from time to time and also yank out the crabgrass sprouts.

FYI, I just posted a question on the Groundcover and Seed forums about direct sowing thyme seed between the pavers, as ours got overrun by crabgrass during our recent renovation--putting all my energy inside the house--I was hoping to avoid the tedium of planting all those plugs all over again, not to mention the expense and the trips from nursery to nursery to find enough.

Now a question for you... We just installed a raised patio as well, from old thick slate slabs that we salvaged from the back porch of our 200-year-old house. The contractor put crushed stone in between...said it would be less maintenance than mortar. We haven't had the rain problem you describe, but we're tracking the stone into the house if we don't wipe our feet really well. Yuck! Very bad for our wooden floors. Perhaps he used too much? It's almost right up to slab level. I'm hoping that rain will help the crushed stone to settle in and compact. Did they tell you anthing like that? Any other maintenance tips will also help. Thank you!

We just put in a stone walk and used the crushed stone that out stone supplier recommended. We have had a good rain and I was pleased with it staying in place pretty well. It does harden a bit. You can leave spots open to plant in if you want to do both.

lafincadora,
Thanks for the input. No one told us anything about the crushed stone. So I not sure if we are the exception or rule. We've had so much hard rain lately and the patio has been in for almost a year, that the crushed stone is almost gone. I can say when it was first laid, we were tracting it around. I had to get a larger door mat. Plus, I make the kids take off their shoes before they come in (I'm becoming my mom!). Other than that, you'll probably have to wait till the the level of the crushed stone goes below the slabs .

Thanks, bearmm---we're definitely on the same wavelength. My husband came home with a new large mat specifically for right inside the french door that leads out to our new patio. We've had endless rain in the last few weeks and I can say that it's helped the stone to pack in. The contractor did come by yesterday and suggested that when our lawn guy comes to mow, we have him "blow" the loose stone. Probably a good idea, as whenever I sweep I pull up loose stone from between the slabs, although in principle I believe in brooms over blowers! Oh, well. By next spring I'm hoping it will have settled in, particularly if we have a wet fall and winter.

When we bought the crushed stone for our project, the fellow did tell us we would probably have to put a little down each year to replace I guess. It does seem to pack down hard below. but leave the top loose. They also had a product to sprinkle over the top to create a hard bond, forget the name though. It still flexes to allow for the freeze and thaw. Might be an alternative if we get tired of the loose crushed stone. Mine was used in the yard around a shed. I would probably be having a fit if this stuff was tracked into the house all the time.