I've got an area in my backyard that is bare. I'd like like to plant something there and was thinking about creeping phlox. I have four dogs in my backyard and want something non-toxic. I've read that it is or isn't toxic. Does anyone know for sure whether it is or isn't toxic?

phlox is non toxic, includes the creeping one. Safe to use around kids and animals. luck getting it to survive tho, mine struggled and disappeared.

Thank you @kittriana I guess all we can do is give it a try.

I've tried to grow creeping phlox as a ground cover in small areas. Tried when I lived in Austin and tried here in north central Texas. I think it doesn't much care for the heat that gets dished out in Texas. It just didn't do well and didn't last very long.

Thanks @needrain I think we'll be looking for something else then.

@chris1948 if you find a good one for your area, I hope you share it. I've tried several and haven't been satisfied. I did have a corner in Austin that was in shade all the time and nothing grew. English Ivy finally did the trick there. It can be a bit of a nuisance once it takes off and is growing well. I tried a couple of creeping Thyme varieties. One of those did well for a while, then declined. I was never sure why it did that, but nothing I did seemed to help once it started. That was here and in full sun.

well, thyme likes snow, so heat was probably the issue. My natives that take over the yard are those fake strawberries, and pink oxalis, but they also disappear after summer turns super hot.

Would think Rosemary and Lavender might work in your area?

@needrain, sure will. The main problem we have here is all the city deer. I lost all my tomatoes last year because of them. I have to research plants to see if their deer proof before I buy them.

crawgarden said: Would thinkg Rosemary and Lavender might work in your area?

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll have to research it.

The deer were so low on food they even ate plants they don't know here - they stripped the leaves from my pothos (which survived, but I simply cut it almost to the ground and hid the pot, and they ate my rootbeer plant, which is toxic (piper auritum), they ate my bay laurel to the ground as well, and I actually caught them grazing St Augustine....I left tubs of water out for them, and I caught them nibbling melon rinds I threw into the woods. Last year was a very stressful year for deer. No water for months on end, and dying trees...they didn't eat my stinky rosemary (Hill Country rosemary) but I think it was because the pothos was close. Yeah, they even cruised the front porch for more flower pots of plants ( at least until one tangled with a yard sprinkler I had close to the porch.)

I left tubs of water out also. They munched on my Plumeria, Bougainvillea, and quite a few other plants. The city has a ordnance against feeding the deer but very few pay attention to it.

I have no trouble with thyme in summer but it has succumbed to winter temps.

Rosemary is good year around and there is a trailing one that
would spread better than upright rosemary plants.

I have had luck with vinca, English ivy and mondo grass. All did well with no extra care and none was bothered by my dogs.

@pod, those sound like a good possibility. I'll do some research but of course it will be up to my wife as what we plant.

Stuff in the yard, it is no longer variegated but vinca here.



Pink oxalis, in my next flowerbed to weed, spreads by underground or above apparently, closed in todays drizzles, chuckl

Never can remember this one's name, if you let it get in the ground it takes over where other things won't grow, grrr, not even roundup kills it without years of aggressive attacks.

Then there is also the tradescantia, has withstood last summer and truly horrid last few years of Winter,
I was wondering if your spot was under an elm or an oak as they don't tolerate grasses by under them. Ummm, also, there are plants that have a short life of 5 yrs( not just 2 yrs) and they die out because the soil nutrition was stripped for the plants that grew there, when the plant runs out of the needed food, it is either going to die or move away.

@kittriana, thank you for the suggestions. The area we need to cover is where an old shed that was attached to the house was. Our son helped tear it down last year thus the bare spot to cover

My St Augustine moves to cover bare spots, I mow it close while weeds are heavy and water every 4 days, then as summer progresses I mow higher and higher. It covered the spot that has been bare for 25 yrs (til the elm fell) in one season. I do use the weed n feed in Spring 2 applications because of the lawn burs we are covered solid with. Your grass will move to cover it...

@Chris1948, I'm in Temple and have had real good luck with Lamb's Ear in this area. The small patch I planted out back 5 years ago got so big, I transplanted cuttings off it into my front yard in some bare bed spots. Be forewarned, it does spread like groundcover. It does well in shade, part shade and even in full sun, where it will even set blooms, although I haven't tried it in full sun yet. Rain will rot low-ground-touching leaves, but I just pull them when unsightly. This photo is quite old, but you can see how just 2-3 plants spread to a 4' patch in just 2 seasons (much larger now). My USB port is dead right now, or I'd take/show you a newer photo (It's 6-7' across now):

It's in mostly shade and has only set 2-3 blooms in that setting, but I grow it mostly for those soft, sage-green leaves. It's fairly evergreen in our area and has survived our horrible freezes the last few years.

Thanks @Peggy8b, we had a lambs ear patch out front in a bare spot some years ago. I'll suggest this to the boss and see what she thinks.

I can't recall the cultivar but there is a lambs ear that doesn't bloom also.

That's a pretty walk @Peggy8b