Creeping thyme should do well for you but it does not bloom for a very long period - perhaps 5-6 weeks at most, under ideal conditions - and it will not be an effective deterrent to weeds.

Is there, in your opinion, a preferable option? Thx

tbh, very few groundcovers will effectively block weeds. Even my rather dense (and unwanted) patch of English ivy allows a few weeds to emerge through the tangle.

With that in mind, plant whatever flowering groundcover you like but realize that no weeding thereafter is going to be pretty much a pipe dream. And I would suggest you focus on an evergreen type. Bare soil - even in the off season - is just an open invitation to weeds.

If the goal is reducing weeding, creeping juniper may work. The best option for sun is mowing, so life gets tricky when you are dealing with an area that is too steep, or too rocky, or too whatever to mow.

The latest thing around here is goats. The result is pretty much the same as mowing, but they work on slopes, and aren't bothered by having to work around trees and large rocks.

May be a wacky idea, but what about daylillies? I understand tawny daylillies do ok on slopes. Rocky potion of slope would still an issue.

I have thyme that has infiltrated my lawn in 5b. Not a lot of grass or weeds grow through it. Some, yes. A weed-free ground cover is a pipe dream. The thyme, which I'd really like to get rid of, becomes a deep purplish green in winter. My ditchlilies, which I'd also like to get rid of, turn brown and die. They turn flop over and slowly turn brown with not enough water and they don't look particularly good en masse. You can mow the thyme, but not the daylilies.

That sounds like fine advice. With such an approach, would you strategically group the flowers? In other words an area of Joe Pye, an area of Black Eyed Susan, etc.

Grouping things would be the easiest way to plant or plug in starts and that is the way meadow designers like Piet Ouldolf have done things. New designers are trying more mix planting styles. In your case you could go typical short to the front and tall to the back for that slope.

Christopher I think youre describing the method used by James Golden at his garden Federal Twist as documented in his book of that name. I think Oudolf still creates meadows by first torching or solarizing the existing seed bed. In any case it’s a worthy goal as long as OP can handle a weed whacker on that terrain. I couldn’t and gave in to creeping juniper. How about the robotic mowers? Ubiquitous in Scotland.

kitasei2, https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6406922/passing-of-christopher-cnc#n=22

:(

Seeing old threads reminds me of Christopher also. He left a beautiful legacy and through his writings his influence on American gardens continues.

where are you big city name...

z5 is about half the US and wildly divergent ...

in my ground freeze z5 ... thyme is rather short lived.. and not very aggressive .. imo ...

the dream back i he day.. was thyme in between stepping stones.. spent years trying to make that dream come true.. failed wildly ...

i like the day lily idea... the type of plant you can throw on the driveway and run over repeatedly.. and they multiply art will .. rarely need water after the year of planting... etc ..

plant a care free workhorse.. and skip the hothouse flower ...

ken

thanks. we are in 5a, in NY but 2 miles from MA border. Topographically, probably more Berkshires than Hudson Valley. Land is top of hill exposed to elements but gets a lot of sun. We are about 1400 feet above sea level. thx.

I have a friend who lives on a mountaintop in southern Vermont. She has islands of creeping thyme on a steep slope that look fabulous, weeds and wildflowers and all. I think your choice is a good one for a naturalistic look.

Creeping thyme should do well under those conditions. But it is NOT going to be an effective weed deterrent. It just doesn't have that ability.

why would a spammer post info about creeping thyme??

Spam is removed. Good question, kitasei2. I don't click on the links to find out, but I suspect it was advertising a business of some sort, perhaps a nursery?