I'd look at brass buttons, Leptinella squalida. Not a CA native but an attractive, tough and very foot traffic tolerant GC from New Zealand. Very mat-like and low growing, it's like walking on tiny, fluffy little feathers :-) Very accommodating to bare feet!! Not fussy about soil other than it be well draining, tolerates from full sun to a fair amount of shade and is relatively drought tolerant once established but would appreciate a good soak occasionally during extended dry periods.

In SoCal, we put in Dymondia margaretae, which looks like this:

We rarely see those little yellow flowers. Just like in the photo, we have it weaving around the pavers. It looks pretty nice all the time, and is in nearly full shade and also in mostly sun, so seems pretty hardy. Also, it barely gets any water. I really like the silvery/blue-ish tint.

one variable will be how much heat the pavers collect and retain deep onto the night ... night is usually a cool recovery period for the onslaught of the day ...

in the pic directly above.. the plant is easily 60 to 75% dominant.. compared to the stone.. so it thrives with ease ...

if you use large blocks.. with just tiny plant material in the cracks.. you MIGHT have a hard time maintaining proper moisture.. during the heat of the day ...

so when you say: " but the idea is to have the pavers as a more solid walkway between the also-walkable ground over. " ... then note this is the variable you will be dealing with ...

if you find the proper plant. it should need no irrigation after it gets fully established ... which is usually after the first growing season.. subject of course to use.. if the marching band will be using the walkway.. it will need more water .. due to the heavy use ...

if it were me.. and being a hard core plant COLLECTOR .... id probably try numerous plants over the length of the walkway.. and over the years figure out which is the most carefree for the situation ...

the alternative.. is that you are an interior designer dabbling outside.. and want one perfect plant.. and sometimes those are hard to find ... since most of the variables particular to your installation are not common to anyone who answers .... but are limited to your garden ....

good luck

ken

Thanks so much to each of you for the recommended plants and also mindfulness of allowing nature to help “choose” the ground cover that thrives, so long as we give it enough space around the pavers to do so. This is a great starting point. Looking forward to seeing how our space evolves over time.

Any recommendations for what material to use for walking stones that don’t get too hot or suck up the moisture from surrounding ground cover?