Personally I would not go with dichondra - it does not hold up well to foot traffic and is not a great choice for a lawn replacement. And it does require mowing, typically every two weeks in season. Also may be better suited to a warmer winter climate. Just for reliability, I'd select a GC that is hardy to at least one full zone lower than yours and 2 is even better :-)

Exactly how large is the area you wish to cover and is it in sun or shade? Otherwise, your prep plans sound fine.

Thanks for your reply! Total yard is approx. 30' x 80', but some areas are already planted with stuff we'd like to keep. Our additions have mostly been edible landscaping; blueberry bushes, strawberry ground cover along a fence, and a few new fruit trees, as well as a raised bed. So the area is maybe a bit less than the total size would suggest. It would be my ideal to have an edible lawn, but I have yet to come across one that seems like it work here. Most of the yard is in direct sun. There is a 80' magnolia in the neighbor's yard that shades an area of ours mid-day, and drops an ungodly amount of leaves/cones all year.

Creeping thyme was my first thought, but I haven't found anyplace that sells bulk seed online that has good reviews, with most people reporting it to be a complete fail. Is there a reliable place to get the quantity and quality of seed I need to cover a large area? Any specific tips for starting a thyme lawn? We have grown it in small contained beds somewhat successfully, but started from pots, which were rather pricey.

We actually tried planting clover the 1st year we were here, because we like it a lot, and because there was already a natural mix of clover and violets in the yard. Our clover seed either just didn't sprout, or was contaminated with weeds straight from the bag. Currently clover and violets still occupy a large part of the yard, but have several other, not-so-nice weeds mixed in (especially a thick blanket of chickweed) and selectively weeding the yard to encourage the clover and violets has been a losing battle.

It seems like finding a reliable bulk seed vendor might be the most difficult part of the equation?

Clover seeds should be easy to find......other groundcover types not so much :-) If you want to go with thyme, look for someone selling plugs. Or, you can slice up the small (4") pots sold at nurseries or garden centers into 4's and make your own plugs :-))

A lot of plants just aren't available cheaply as bulk seed, or don't grow well from broadcast seed.

And established weeds can out compete most newly sprouted seeds.

Your plan is a good one...I might add "Plow the yard" as an
additional step...there is a reason farmers plow fields. It buries
seeds and slices up roots.

Why do you think there were weeds in the clover? Probably there were just some surviving weed seeds in the ground.

Do you plan on walking on it? How tall do you want it? Do you need it to be evergreen?

I like Mayapple, Geranium Maculatum, Cinnamon fern, wild strawberry, wintergreen, cranberry, and clover as groundcovers. Most of those are more for small areas where you won't walk...like under a tree or in a rock garden.

Thanks for your suggestions!

I really like the idea of wintergreen; it's an attractive plant! If you are growing it, what has your experience with it been? Specifically in terms of spreading to fill an area. I haven't seen it available at local nurseries, and it's expensive online. I'd hate to order enough to fill an area, only to have it fail. I suppose I am most attracted to very low growing evergreen ground covers with dark foliage. But really I just want something that works, and doesn't require a lot of water or maintenance. I would rather spend my time in the yard cultivating edible plants.

Wouldn't plowing bring up more weeds?

In the past couple of years the clover and violets did a pretty decent job of blocking out the other weeds (only where they grew of course)--but this year not so much. The weather has been quite squirrelly, which may be the cause. We had chickweed emerging in January/February this year, and it didn't seem bothered by the 20° temps. It just grew up before the clover did, I guess, and in abundance. If only I were inclined to eat it!

I tried a little test burn today with the propane torch, and man that thing is terrifying! One problem with it I realized is that the soil will dry out and harden real fast without anything covering it. The weeds at least keep moisture in the ground.

We do walk around our yard, but really only in limited areas. Of course, if we fill in more areas with plants we like to visit, then we will be walking over more places! One troubled area is underneath a giant magnolia tree (which is rooted in a neighbor's yard, but hangs over a large portion of ours). Many of the plants I like would make it difficult to rake out the debris it drops (Creeping Thyme, for example, or even clover), and conversely the debris makes it difficult to grow things I like. At first I was happy just to leave it "natural" and let the leaves and cones fall where they will, but it does make walking in that area rather unpleasant, and leaves it an easy target for opportunistic plants. The leaves and cones don't break-down fast at all.

Intrigued by the cranberry suggestion... is there a particular variety that is a ground cover?

Try Hazards seeds and plants.

i haven’t gone to their website lately.

they had flats of plants.

also

High Country gardens in Santa Fe, NM

Zone 7, where are you Located.

That is Hazzards

Unless you are planting grass or clover, you don't need topsoil. Just smother the lawn with layers of wet newspaper (better than cardboard) and have a tree company dump free chips to spread on top. In my area (moist northeast) it's ready to plant in three months. I do overseed lawn areas with clover (Dutch White, from Outside Pride) but can't say it's kept out weeds.

Try ernstseeds.com

Nobody, I don’t know where you ended up with this project, but here are some comments based on my experience. First, where is your zone 7? Cape Cod is different from OK and Va as far as climate, rainfall, and soil (including pH) even though all have zone 7.

Yes plowing will bring up weed seeds which can stay viable in the soil for 20+ years. So the prep you described is good, and I would then mulch as kitasei suggested and plant into or rake aside the mulch, depending on the plants you choose. It doesn’t have to all be done at once. You can do a section each year to make it more manageable. It doesn’t have to be all one plant type the way a lawn is. You can do blocks of different kinds of plants that best suit the part of the yard, so if thyme doesn’t work under the magnolia, perhaps a taller, part shade tolerant groundcover that will “eat” the magnolia debris such as one of the groundcover Geraniums might work better, or even Pennsylvania sedge/Carex pensylvanica which is grasslike and could be gently raked.

Wintergreen, while a lovely plant isn’t a good ground cover. It grows slowly and not densely enough IME to discourage weeds. Cranberry needs acid soil that will not dry out. Neither will take consistent foot traffic, so I would first map out where you want access and install paths of shredded bark mulch for main paths and stepping stones for minor paths. Of Ed’s other suggestions, wild strawberry and clover are the best bets for sun. Other plants for sun that might work include low growing Sedums, some of the groundcover Geraniums such as Biokovo if you like the scent of the foliage, Thyme which I have only found easy from plants, Veronica ‘Georgia Blue’, or even something like mums which spread like lightening but aren’t attractive in winter, at least in my area.

Wintergreen is a woodland plant and not appropriate for a full sun location. Some of Babs' suggestions would work well. But knowing the geographical location of your zone 7 garden could prompt more suggestions....not all zone 7's are created equal and there may be regional limitations that could affect choices.

Just to add a clarifying note, wintergreen/Gaultheria procumbens is a woodland plant in zone 7, but on my property it grows by choice with several hours of midday sun on a mowed road verge. So it is far more tolerant of sun in northern areas than might be anticipated. Regardless, it isn’t a good weedblocking groundcover anywhere IME.