Total gardening newbie: walk me through replacing grass on slope with ground cover (phlox)?

[Anonymous]

Based on previous threads here, I'm considering planting creeping phlox as ground cover in a sloping portion of my front yard, as it is native to this area and produces really pretty color.

The front yard slopes down about four feet into a shallow storm water retention ditch next to the road. (We have no curb. Thanks, Fairfax County/VDOT). Currently, we have really weedy lawn in this area and it looks awful. It's very hard to mow the slope and it's just a mess. What I'd like to do is just get rid of the lawn and replace it with ground cover. Then, I'd love to plant a border of flowers at the top of the hill, so when the flowers bloom, it might look something like this:

http://blog.americanmeadows.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Tulip-Creeping-Phlox-Donald-Neuland.jpg

(Only imagine the phlox is going downhill.)

I've done some reading, and I'm thinking my workflow would look something like this:

1) Use a spade to dig up the old sod
2) Use a rototiller to till the soil and add compost
3) Plant the phlox about 12-18 inches apart
4) Mulch between the plants
5) Water the phlox and watch it grow
6) Yay?

Does that sound about right? Am I missing a step? Would one of you like to join me in this project? Or just give me total newbie advice? THANKS!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Based on previous threads here, I'm considering planting creeping phlox as ground cover in a sloping portion of my front yard, as it is native to this area and produces really pretty color.

The front yard slopes down about four feet into a shallow storm water retention ditch next to the road. (We have no curb. Thanks, Fairfax County/VDOT). Currently, we have really weedy lawn in this area and it looks awful. It's very hard to mow the slope and it's just a mess. What I'd like to do is just get rid of the lawn and replace it with ground cover. Then, I'd love to plant a border of flowers at the top of the hill, so when the flowers bloom, it might look something like this:

http://blog.americanmeadows.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Tulip-Creeping-Phlox-Donald-Neuland.jpg

(Only imagine the phlox is going downhill.)

I've done some reading, and I'm thinking my workflow would look something like this:

1) Use a spade to dig up the old sod
2) Use a rototiller to till the soil and add compost
3) Plant the phlox about 12-18 inches apart
4) Mulch between the plants
5) Water the phlox and watch it grow
6) Yay?

Does that sound about right? Am I missing a step? Would one of you like to join me in this project? Or just give me total newbie advice? THANKS!

Sounds about right. Just be aware that the phlox will take a few years to grow full and also, the flowers on phlox are lovely but they only last a few weeks. I think it will look great though!

[Anonymous]

Talk to a few Master Gardeners if your area. They can give phone advice or they do free clinics at the library.

I'd also consider talking to someone at the Arboretum since they recommend it as a native alternative, e.g.:
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/InvasivesAlternatives.html

And perhaps someone at the Native Plant Society in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Talk to a few Master Gardeners if your area. They can give phone advice or they do free clinics at the library.

I'd also consider talking to someone at the Arboretum since they recommend it as a native alternative, e.g.:
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/InvasivesAlternatives.html

And perhaps someone at the Native Plant Society in VA.

Thanks so much! I just saw that the Fairfax County Master Gardeners will be at River Farm this weekend, so I'll bring pictures and be ready to ask advice. Thanks!!!

[Anonymous]

I love this idea and I have a slope towards a ditch, too. So ugly.

OP, if you get any more tips, please come back!

[Anonymous]

Phlox can get tall I think and needs pruning.

I have a similar slope issue - mine is huge and northeast facing. I bought dichondra repens seeds. I can spread them like grass seeds and thats it. It only grows maybe 2" tall, and can be walked on or mowed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Phlox can get tall I think and needs pruning.

I have a similar slope issue - mine is huge and northeast facing. I bought dichondra repens seeds. I can spread them like grass seeds and thats it. It only grows maybe 2" tall, and can be walked on or mowed.

creeping phlox rarely gets taller than 4"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Phlox can get tall I think and needs pruning.

I have a similar slope issue - mine is huge and northeast facing. I bought dichondra repens seeds. I can spread them like grass seeds and thats it. It only grows maybe 2" tall, and can be walked on or mowed.

I was ideally looking for something native, lush, and colorful. It doesn't look like yours fits the native criteria, but it definitely looks nice for a slope.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Talk to a few Master Gardeners if your area. They can give phone advice or they do free clinics at the library.

I'd also consider talking to someone at the Arboretum since they recommend it as a native alternative, e.g.:
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/faqs/InvasivesAlternatives.html

And perhaps someone at the Native Plant Society in VA.

Thanks so much! I just saw that the Fairfax County Master Gardeners will be at River Farm this weekend, so I'll bring pictures and be ready to ask advice. Thanks!!!

You rock, OP.

[Anonymous]

We're planning to do something similar! However, I'm a bit adverse to digging up the grass by hand, which will be difficult to do on our slope. Also if you have a gap between when you dig it up, plant the groundcover and mulch, the hill can be very susceptible to erosion during rain events. I've used this method to kill grass before and plan to do so this time: cover with several sheets of newspaper, followed by some compost and most importantly, a thick layer of mulch on top. Leaf mulch works great for this, and some counties/cities will give it away for free (from the fall leaf collection). Then when you're ready to plant, you can just plant right through the layers. The one drawback is that it does take a bit of time to kill the grass so you'd probably want to let it sit for a couple weeks before planting.

Good luck and please do report back after you've talked to the MGs!

[Anonymous]

I hope you don't have rabbits... They ate my native phlox to the ground and it all died. Huge waste of money.