I don't see why you couldn't. It's not going to seed out, and if mildew is not a problem you'd not be encouraging that either.

you might also want to start thinning the herd .... perhaps limiting them to one bed or so ...

what im wondering about.. is how long old seed stays viable in the ground ... if years are possible ... you might have a hard time stopping new ones ...

otherwise.. stopping new seed is a good idea ...

one other thought.. how long do the stalks take to break down.. in the compost pile ... and alternatively.. how long would they take to break down.. just matted on top of the garden soil ... i suppose you can experiment and see how it works... and just hope you dont learn that you have to go back and pick them all up later ...

everyone who has gardened for a long time.. has a plant they thought were the bees knees ... back in the day ... and let it do its own thing.. only to learn.. over the years.. that its a thug .. lol ... chameleon plant ... autumn clematis.. violets.. all come to mind.. and a myriad of other things that had certain world domination tendencies ... and it took a lot of hard work.. to eradicate it ...

ken

To ask the obvious, what 's the possibility of a compost pile much much closer to the phlox?

No law that says you can only have one pile, either.

Gradually start reducing the area. Replace with Joe Pye Weed, NY Ironweed;

tall golden rod,

Or completely remove a border, say 4feet wide all aroung.Mulch thickly. Keep removing until the phlox is manageable.....seasonally,weekly, daily...what ever your back and weather allow. Mulch, mulch, mulch.

Thanks all- I am thinking it would be good to thin, but I want to wait until I have a good plan in place for what to put in their place. We border unmanaged public land and there are a ton of aggressive plants that would love the opportunity of a big open and recently disturbed area. Despite my best intentions, I have not been able to find enough hours (or frankly, staging area) to mulch everything in a single season, so I'll also want to be sure I have many yards of mulch on deck. Dang, perennials are pretty but they sure can be a lot of work!

We just lay down a giant tarp when moving this much debris- when they get full we drag them to one of our compost piles. Way easier than wheelbarrow loads IMO.

I use a Japanese grass sickle--cuts like a warm knife through butter. All you hear is the "swish" and the brief pause--almost cartoon like--before everything falls to the ground. Oh so satisfying.

similar to the results of the grass sickle, I've used a battery powered hedge trimmer to cut the border down in the fall. way faster than clipping by hand. will look into the sickle tho - no bending over?

I think you can get long-handled ones, mine is a short one since I'm not that tall and what I'm cutting is usually tall. I've used it on Japanese stilt grass, various tall grasses, some soft-stemmed plants. They do make ones for thicker stemmed plants.

I've used it in my left and right hands. It's often used to harvest grass-like plants by gardeners: grab a clump and swipe, keeping appropriate distance between the two hands! I have several traditional Asian tools--impressively useful. Just bought a Korean homi and am really liking it so far. My hori hori is my constant companion. Sorry, off topic!

The sickle is insanely sharp...I found myself just randomly swiping at plants just to see the tops collapse, it's amazing.

Yeah, I also use the tarp method as well, sure is great for moving stuff around, I've got some tight areas, but still think I can utilize a tarp in most places.

Anna, thanks for your recommendation, the Japanese grass sickle sounds like a great idea, I'll attempt to get a long handled one!

What about using a string trimmer? I don't own one or use one, but I don't have large patches of plants like that either.

OMG, FB, that rudbeckia is stunning!

:)

Dee

I tried posting a reply several times with embedded images, but it keeps failing. Let me try sharing a little photo tour of my phlox with you this way (hope it works!)

Meanwhile, THANK YOU for all of these great ideas! I am now really excited to browse Japanese sickles and/or hedge trimmers. I had considered using my string trimmer, but honestly I doubted its ability to stand up to the tough phlox stems. I also love the tarp idea and will definitely try that too. Another idea I had involves our mulching mower. Last year I ran over some of the beds in late November and was able to get it pretty well cleaned up. So if I sickle/trim the tops and let them fall, maybe they can just get mowed up later this year and compost in place?

I did that with my golden Thyme this year for the first time. I grow it like a ground cover around the ends of my raised vegetable beds and normally leave it stand through the winter then go out there in spring and prune it all back by hand. This year, I mowed over it after it flowered and looked at bare branches for a week, but I see it is coming back strong now. I think I may have saved myself some work for the spring.

@Anna (6B/7A in MD)- do you mind sharing what brand your sickle is? Thanks!

It's written in Japanese and I bought it from the Tool Merchants who no longer sell tools.

https://thetoolmerchants.com/store/japanese-sickle/