Low growing herbs instead of grass, looking for advice, experience, comments.

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Short version: thinking of expanding lawn but using walkable plants, such as woolly thyme, Corsican mint, lawn chamomile, instead of grass. Any thoughts?

Longer version if you have the energy!

Previous people had weed proof membrane and chippings along three sides of the lawn. Now largely buried in leaves etc mulching down and it's becoming a border of moss and weed. Would you remove the membrane and chippings or just add compost on top and get going?

Would you have one side e.g. thyme, one mint etc or mix it up?

I think seed is the way forward here isn't it?

Interested in anyone's thoughts, especially if you have done something similar or have seen it. Is it the kind of thing gardening magazines suggest but it totally doesn't work in reality?

Sage is fairly low-growing, bit higher than carpet, though. It self seeds and grows and grows.

I remember reading that it depends on traffic - as in, it only works in low-traffic areas. It it's a lawn that children run on, or the route to the bins, it's no good.

So you probably need a low traffic area, or one that you can put stepping stones/pavers on!

Camomile is supposed to make a nice lawn

I think we'd be okay on the traffic front, it would be around the edges. There is worn bit developing in the middle where we could do with putting pavers in.

Well i think it sounds glorious! And nice and biodiverse.

I have no experience in this, but I'd definitely mix it up rather than segregate the plants -I'd have a tapestry lawn.

Gut feel says to pull up the membrane as it degrades anyway over time.

I had a smallish patch of decorative camomile lawn once around a herb garden. Unfortunately the foliage harboured about 10 million slugs and every night armies of the little bastards came out and ate my other herbs and veg. I finally pulled it all out to make way for a seating area with paving slabs and planted lavender round it.

I have tried lawn camomile (DM who was a keen gardener advised me against it)

Tried thyme... Failed. I've had a small success on birds foot trefoil and alpine strawberries.

This is harder than you’d think. If it was easy we’d all have lovely herbs instead of boring grass. (Ditto wildflowers).

It sounds as if you’re a relatively new gardener?

Mint likes it a bit damp, and if it’s happy will run everywhere as a thug. If you’re happy with that then that’s fine but you will definitely need to lift the slate and Chippings. A small plant or two will get you going, even a supermarket one, just rip it up into 3 or 4 bits with roots and plonk them in then stand well back.

Thyme likes it very well drained. You’ll have to lift the membrane as it will want to root a bit but if they are small Chippings/gravel then just dig them in and plant some of the creeping thymes in the space. They will spread but more slowly than mint. There are lots of different ones and you could have a mix. Prince Charles has a lovely thyme walk (and lots of gardeners and experience and money…)

Oregano/Marjoram would be good as low, bee-friendly herbs too. Sage is generally taller, also wants sun and good drainage. Rosemary is really a bush.

But be warned, it’s not just a case of scattering some seed and sitting back in your deckchair admiring the view.

Thanks all. Not sure where to place myself on the "new gardener scale", certainly I'm on here with more questions than answers but I know rosemary is a bush and wouldn't have contemplated using it for this purpose. Oregano is a good shout for this. I don't think I'll be able to find the low growing varieties of any of these on sale in supermarkets though. I agree sage is taller than I'm looking for.

@MoonminMummy9 you didn't say how you got on with lawn chamomile?