Dirt & Jennifer, great ideas to cogitate on! I'm rather liking the antennaria idea, as several varieties are native in my neck of the woods. I've never grown it. Will it tolerate shade? The deck landing is not a high-traffic area, although it does get light foot traffic (not by any means one of my main routes to the yard). Digging up and resetting the rocks over cloth is not in my personal universe, although I can certainly see the benefit of doing so.
Re: eating the rock (love that term) v. nicely complementing the rocks -- of course I would prefer the latter but realistically know that the former is more likely no matter what is planted. I'm not opposed to occasional cutting back to keep the rocks exposed, and a more aggressive plant would likely have more success against the weeds.
Expansion joints could handle more rock-eating, simply to break up the monotony of the sidewalks.
I like the idea of putting in a grass guard of some sort, there is a definite grass encroachment from the lawn side.
And, researching all other suggestions as well. Keep brain-storming!
