Ground Cover for HIll that won't kill Daffodills

Hi,
I'm a new gardener and I have a hill on the south side of my house that is pretty steep. My dad lives next door and tries to mow it, but has fallen because it is hard to maneuver so we usually hire someone. If we don't mow it, it becomes full of weeds and ticks and baby mimosa trees by mid-summer.
I would like to try a ground cover that would choke out all the weeds and look pretty under the dogwoods and redbuds I plan to plant there. My worry is, every spring I have a gorgeous mass of blooms on the hill from the daffodills that my Granny planted before I was born (she died 3 years ago and I bought her house). I don't want anything to happen to the daffodills, and am afraid that if I plant a ground cover , it will choke out the bulbs. Is there a groundcover that only grows and blooms in summer and fall? That's when I need it the most.
Also, my garden below is white, lavender, yellow, and pink with some blue so I want to pick a groundcover that would complement those colors.
Thanks for your help!

My daffs, hyacinth and lillies come up through my creeping phlox every year. It stays evergreen for me and is blooming now. It will continue to bloom on and off all summer.

chris

See this post which I just wrote about creeping Sedum and Delosperma (Iceplant) which would work great for you. I hope the link works.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/957636/

Chris, does the phlox involve any care once it's established? I read somewhere that it is best to mow it down after the blooms are gone, and I wondered if they would grow fine regardless? I really like the look of phlox if it is low maintenence. My mom wants to put some bright pink phlox behind her house on their hill, but it is more of a cliff than a hill compared to mine!
I didn't realize phlox came in so many colors, the Ariane looks especially lovely.

Blomma, thank you for the link! I love iceplant and tried to grow it in my memory garden but it was too shady there and wouldn't grow. I'm still new to figuring out where flowers grow best (by soil type, morning or afternoon sun etc) and I know now that just because I want a flower to grow somewhere don't mean it will :-D flowers seem to be even more stubborn than me. I bet iceplant would look really pretty on my sunny dry bank. I'm going to look into it and sedum some more. Thanks!
Now I just need to choose- sedum, iceplant, or phlox...

I will post some pictures of my creeping phlox and ice plant tomorrow. I planted both of them long before I was interested in knowing the different varieties of plants so I dont know which they are.
I dont do anything to the phlox or ice plant except give huge amounts away to neighbors and throw out at least a garbage bag full of both every year. I have never mowed it down or cut it down.
It trims my driveway and walk and spreads pretty good, so I cut it back to the edge.

chris

Chris,
thanks! I'd love to see some pictures. Having something that would grow that quickly and profusely would be an answer to three years of worry/prayers over that hill. It would be so nice to have something pretty to look at instead of the brambly weeds and patches of scraggly grass. And to not have to worry about my dad hurting himself mowing it will be such a relief also!
Here is a picture of the part of the hill that turns into Daffodill Hill every spring. I just took it yesterday, I can't believe I have flowers already! I love spring in the south!

Hi Chris,

I second the motion on phlox...it's a wonderful ground cover for hills, spreads quickly, beautiful blooms like pillows, and wonderfully evergreen. And the daffodils grow right through it.

Best!

Sorry it took so long, been a crazy week. Ok, I didnt get the light right for a pretty picture, but you will get the idea.

This is Hyacinth and daffs growing through lemon thyme and phlox.

This one is Hyinth growing through the ice plant (which is behind the rock).
The ice plant is not in bloom yet.
The ice plant in about 2 years will cover all the areas of black mulch that you see around the rest of the Hyacinths.

This is how the phlox grows onto my walkway. This is what I cut off every year. It was cut back at the end of the season last year. What you see is winter growth on the walk.

This is a bed of phlox. I added some iris and daffs last year, the phlox is just starting to reach where they are. I pulled out a garbage bag full of phlox in order to plant the iris and bulbs.
There is a little rock river bed that you can barely see because of the phlox and ice plant. The ice plant is the large area not in bloom that is in front of the taller rock.
I will cut all of this out of the river bed this year. I dont think I did it last year, that is why there is so much.

This message was edited Mar 9, 2009 8:45 PM

This is creeping lemon thyme. I wouldnt use it for your hill only because after doing it on mine and loving it, I have found that the life of the plant must only be about 5 years. I am starting to get pretty large dead spots. (either that or, I did something to kill it)
I like maintenance free, so even though I love the thyme, I am transplanting my extra phlox this year into the dead spots.

Good luck, and take pics for us.
chris

Chris,
thank you so much! I am speechless, that was the nicest thing ever, posting all of those pictures for me! Creeping Phlox in a garden looks so different than in bulb catalogs and stock photos. It is really beautiful! It looks like drifts of flowers. I think I'd like white because it would remind me of the snowdrifts in Michigan, but the pink is so pretty, too, and would complement white dogwoods.
Your garden is so beautiful and lovely! I aspire to achieve such greatness someday.
I'll definetly post pics once I get things going!
(Hi, Debbie!) that makes 3 "yes" for phlox, I;m going for it. Can't wait!!

-Audra aka Lady Aethelwyne (I really need to think of a garden name and stop using my hobbit name everywhere :-D)

Don't make up your mind until you see these plants. Here is the first photo. All are varieties of Delospermas (Ice plants) All but the yellow one will bloom all summer and your bulbs will grow right through. "They love the sun and dryness.

They are coded as:
#1---D. 'Mesa Verde'
2---D. 'Starburst'
3---D. cooperi
4---D. 'John Proffitt'
5---D. nubigenum (blooms June and July. Grows 1" tall.

Here are creeping varieties of Sedums. They too love the sun and will quickly spread. Your bulbs will grow through these also. Most likely, they are evergreen in your climate. In my zone 4, three die down, to come up the following spring. Most bloom in June and July.

They are coded as:
#1---Sedum album 'Laconium' grows to 1-1/2" tall
2---S. 'Tricolor' with variegated leaves
3---S. album 'Angelina' changes color according to the season
4---S. Kamtschalicum 'Kirin-So'
5---S. spurium 'Blaze of Fulda'
6---S. spurium 'Green Mantle'

Enjoy!!

OOps! fogot the photo

Here is one example how I grow one variety. It is growing down a rock meeting with Sempervivum tectorum (hen and chicks) at the bottom. The other chick is a hybrid S. 'Ohioan'.

If you are interested in Creeping Phlox, here is a pretty one.

Here is yet another idea for a variety that likes heat and dryness. It has sprawling branches to 3 ft that radiate from the center, and blooms from June until frost.

Audra, I am glad that I could help with your vision. I am sure it will turn out beautiful no matter what you choose.
You could also plant different colors, it could be splotchy or you could ring the bottom of the hill with white and fill the hill with pink.
You will surprise yourself at how you can cause such wonderful things to happen in your gardens. Davesgarden is what inspired me a few years ago, and that was all the push I needed.
I hope you see you around. I hang out in the paid subscriber forums mostly, ("Butterfly" and "Georgia gardening") but I will keep this thread on watch so I can see pictures of what you have created.

Happy Gardening,
chris

Just thought of 1 more thing. You mentioned having trouble with Mimosa seedlings. So do I.
I have gotten rid of most of the trees near me because I got tired of pulling the little ones.

You will want to keep an eye on the hill for seedlings. Some of those will get through the phlox. By the time you see them, they will probably be second year trees. Might be a little tougher to get out.

Blomma, thanks for all the pictures! I am so touched at the friendliness of everyone I've met here. Now I'm confused because you're pics are so lovely, too! I'm going to sit and think a spell.
Chris, mimosa seedlings drive me crazy, too! My first year at my Granny's I didn't know what they were but had a tree cut down because it was raining messy pods all over my car. The next year, it had resprouted almost just as tall! I looked around and found one messing up my shade garden, one next to my foundation, several very close to collapsing onto my house...my mom said they were mimosa's so I looked them up and saw what a nuisance they were and cut all mine down.
The trouble is, they all come from my aunt's mimosa mature tree at the end of my driveway. I'd ask her to cut it down, but my uncle planted it and he died last year so it's a touchy subject. Still, now that I know what baby ones look like, I must have pulled thirty or forty from my butterfly garden which is right across from that tree. Aargh!
What kills me is I joined the arbor day foundation last fall and 2 of the trees they sent were goldenraintrees, which I've read are just as bad as mimosas! So I felt guilty but threw the baby goldenraintrees away with my evergrowing pile of mimosa babies.

Thanks for watching my post and for all of your help, Blomma and Chris! I'm looking into these plants online and at Lowe's and hope to buy some and plant some (and take pictures) soon. Love ya both!
-Audra