Oh, I should also mention that we do have indoor/outdoor cats, and I have a small child, so I need something that is non-toxix if ingested. I was about to go with Periwinkle, but then I read it is toxic! Yikes!

There are various listings of groundcovers suitable for the Ohio area, typically provided by your local extension service. I've included one for you to review. You will need to determine sun/shade suitability for your specific needs.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about toxicity - way more plants are toxic to some degree or another than those that are not. The cats are not likely to bother them at all and now is a good time to start training your child not to put anything in their mouth that mom or dad did not OK first! Besides, unless it produces berries or some sort of fruit, munching on garden plants is not all that appealing to kids either - just try and get them to eat their veggies :-))

Here is a link that might be useful: groundcovers for Ohio

I would just rather not take the risk though having a little kid. I was thinking maybe about an herbal ground cover, like creeping thyme or mint, but I hear mint is very aggressive and can even go underneath your steps so it starts growing out in the yard. Maybe thyme is the way to go since it seems like it is better controlled?

Thyme needs full sun and does not grow all that fast.....small scaled plants like thyme just don't make a big impact very quickly.

If you are that concerned about toxic plants, then I'd take a very close look at everything else that is growing in your garden. As I stated previously, the vast majority of common garden plants - including a good many veggies - are toxic to some degree or another. FWIW, accidental poisonings of children eating landscape plants is pretty darn low - and most of the rest of the gardening population have both kids and/or pets as well and manage to combine both gardening and child/pet rearing without incident. Just saying......:-)