My Experiment to Snuff out Weeds with Sedum Ground Covers

I have some favorite Groundcovers, Angelina, Hens and Chicks, Creeping Jenny and a low growing sedum I got for free.

I am on a mission to eliminate as much weeding as possible with these favored ground covers as they're easy to pull up, are beautiful to look at and add textures that says 'plant' not 'weed'. If they grow into my lawn I don't care, they make for pretty steppables. I find creeping thyme looks messy after they've bloomed, smells nice though.  Lily of the Valley I can't tolerate it's like an alien being that takes over your yard. Ajuga is too pedestrian for me and I regret that I dumped some seeds in an area when I first moved here, it's sort of a bargain basement groundcover in my book. I prefer low-growing so garden flowers aren't blocked by taller groundcovers.



I'm experimenting with these succulent ground covers by covering an area with commercial grade weed blocking fabric-always get commercial grade or forget about it, that flimsy cheap stuff does NOTHING. If you want to be more eco-concious use wet newspaper. I alternate doing both, I've even used wet cardboard, this is called 'Sheet Mulching'. The roots of these groundcovers are shallow, so they literally do fine being poked gently into loose soil.

Today I lay down some thick weed blocking fabric, covered it with Topsoil and took a bag of the free low-growing sedum and some Creeping Jenny I had and dumped it on the Topsoil after I watered it. I then tucked in the rooted areas of the groundcovers. It all looks messy now, but if a few small strands I picked up from someone else's yard can grow and fill out an area around my tree in two years so less weeds and Poison Ivy can poke their noxious heads through, I'm happy. Next year, my hope is that this sedum with shallow roots will assertively grow in an area where weeds flourish giving me more time to enjoy my garden than maintaining it.