I can't tell you the amount of times I've stepped on or backed up on an emerging lily, I now have most of the ones I have left in a raised planter recuperating from old bigfoot.

I'm thinking of putting some kind of steppers in the bed where I like to grow my lilies, (I call it the jinxed bed :() in hopes of keeping my big feet off the ones that have so far evaded these big clodhoppers of mine.

Annette

I fill every bed as full as possible and step all over everything! It's just terrible. Although, come to think of it, even when the beds are new and not nearly full I still find a way to back up and step on something. Maybe my goal should be to stop backing up in the garden!

Most beds are path-free, but I have to be able to navigate in the 12' deep bed, so I have pine straw paths there. Had to dig up a bunch of plants this spring that had taken over the pathways last year.

I have had conversations with myself ;-D on this very topic for several years and so far I'm not much closer to having spaces! Maybe this year - LOL. In the new beds I made last year the roses and perennials are spread out but then I put in a lot of petunias to cover the soil and a few stepping stones! Spaces look a bit unfinished to me. Not sure if I can succeed with this goal altho I will try.

Right now, the plants are still small, so I have plenty of space...but usually end up stepping on the alyssum. Luckily, alyssum puts up with a lot and bounces right back :)

I use a lot of stone in my garden, some for structure, contrast, or hardscape interest, but I always put some stones in the beds for stepping and moving into the beds so I don't step on things. I usually do this before I plant anything as my beds tend to be very full and crowded also. By the middle of the summer the plants get so big that most of the stepping stones aren't visible, but they are still there to walk on!

LOL! Makes me feel soooo much better knowing I am not the only plant smasher out there. At this point it is like playing Twister in the garden, trying to contort myself to reach that weed in the very back, lol!

-mosswitch, that is exactly what I hope to happen, things will fill in and hide the stones from view a bit.
CMK

Like playing twister, how right you are LOL. If you could see some of the positions I ended up in....all I can say is I'm sooooo glad we have a high fence around the garden.

Annette

Great topic. I have started putting 2 ft tall pieces of bamboo near plants that are likely to get stepped on. I back up and feel the bamboo on my calf and I stop. It has worked really well to keep me from smashing the new Baptisia and several other tiny new plants. Other things like salvia etc seem to tolerate me. Rocks also work near the base of some plants...I stumble on the rock and miss the plant ! c

I hear you. Just today I broke off a hyacinth's bud.. So what would I do? I'd put in small stepping stones. I made one from a kit, complete with word stamps and mosaic glass. Maybe you can use the same thing too.

-Caroline, that is what I do too. When a plant is really tiny or there is a clump of seedlings I want to avoid stepping on I get a bunch of little rocks and make a "ring around the posy". Except I use small rocks to avoid stumbling. Knowing me I would end up taking a lot of things down with me in the fall, LOL. ;-)
CMK

I have a few flat rocks here and there for stepping, but in spite of them I manage to flatten my share of plants. Still, the rocks give me something to aim my clodhoppers at, and are better than nothing.

ThinMan

Flat Rocks are my friend. Thankfully both my husband and I are tall, so they are about 3 feet away from one another in the deepest parts so they don't really look like a path....just like a bunch of rocks. They are just big enough for us to stand on and are set into the soil. Once the plants come up around them, unless you're standing at the garden, you don't see them.....

Still though - between us (with his size 15s and my size 12s) and the dogs, plants still manage to get mashed sometimes.....

I put the little stepping stones where I normally step...I know I have to be in there, so I put them in, usually when I lay out the bed.

This is the extension to my rose garden - little stepping stone paths in both directions...you know we can't stand unused space...have to put a plant in it.

{{gwi:663564}}
kay

I think I will go find some flat rocks because if I don't have it full the weeds appear. I am 80 yrsold so its getting harder to get in there and weed and I do put down much. Already the weeds are there. My daughter says use Preen & I laufh I told her I would have to get out there with the 6 inches of snow

I like the "suggestion" of a path. I have a flat stepping stone at the edge of two sides of the border where I enter. Then just an occasional one, because I don't want to visually divide up the large bed with an obvious path.

It seems to me if its primarily the gardener who's going into the bed, and its purpose is functional and not a main path- which you'd want aesthetically pleasing- you don't need a continuous stone path. Or in fact, any stones if you know where you're going and maybe rake the path a bit.

I also have an occasional flat stone in other areas I need to get to. I'd like to put in a word for some unobtrusive, stone native to your area. Here in NE slate just doesn't look right. I recycled some from a project, and it's perfectly sooth somewhat shiny surface doesn't blend in. I also make the top of the stone level with the soil or mulch. I'd rather sweep it occasionally than trip on it!
Marie