I have a small sun-exposed garden area about 200 square feet that I want to put 7-inch x 7-inch square pavers in. I am toying with the idea of leaving a space between pavers and putting in a groundcover plant. What are some good choices? My requirements:

* I want something that can go without watering for a month

* It will have full sun exposure in zone 9b

* I would like it to be visually interesting to look at all times of the year

* I want it to stay flat within the channel between stones

So far I identified Elfin Thyme as a good candidate, but I want to consider others. I think it would be really interesting to have a succulent plant that could tolerate being stepped on if that is an option.

Can I get away with as little as 1 inch to 1.5 inches between stones? I know most sites recommend 3 inches, but I don't want to create a big hazard for anyone wearing heels.

In terms of how to lay the soil for this, I will be putting in a coarse sand as the base under the pavers. After I lay the pavers down on that, I was thinking of filling the cracks between stones using "gritty mix", which is equal parts of 1/4-inch stone, fir bark, and turface. That is succulent soil and it drains well.

The pavers are about two inches tall, so that leaves open the question can I get by with one inch of gritty mix, leaving a one-inch space at the top for the plant to fill? One inch of soil under the groundcover is not a lot of space for roots to grow in. If I fill the two inch space with gritty mix, then the plants will protrude over the surface of the pavers, and even then it is only two inches of gritty mix soil under the plant. I could put a layer of gritty mix under the pavers, but that really isn't good practice and I am pretty sure the pavers would start to tilt over time.