Help with Phyla nodiflora

[purpletalker]

Greetings.
I need help controlling unwanted plants in much of my front yard where I'm trying to grow Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora Family: Verbenaceae) as a ground cover over roughly 1000 square feet. I am in southeast Texas (about 10 miles north of Beaumont), where the soil is a sandy loam (slightly acidic, which I've neutralized); this area of the yard is exposed fully to the sun. The rainfall here can be anywhere from too much (coming off the Gulf) to too little (and very hot). My interest is to plant a Texas native ground cover to replace most of the grass in the yard. This project is not well accepted by the neighbors, since most of the neighborhood is covered in St. Augustine grass, but it is especially unappreciated since I cannot keep it from looking "weedy" with all of these unwanted plants therein.

I started the project two years ago by applying Glyphosate to existing vegetation, waited for it to die, then applied fertilizer and compost, and tilled the area. The following Spring, I planted Frogfruit on 18-inch centers. The Frogfruit has been slow to come in, last winter it died all the way back to roots. This year the Frogfruit came in very well, as did two plant types that are quite aggressive and difficult to control as they invade the ground growing the Frogfruit. These aggressive "weeds" are (1) various forms of sedges, and (2) Virginia buttonweed. (Not to mention bermuda grass, but I've figured out a selective herbicide to control it.) Apparently a pre-emergent has little effect on this weeds. I have tried to pull (and pull and pull) these weeds, but now I'm reading that pulling these weeds can make them more difficult to control because these plants can grow from even a fraction of root or plant remains. So I tried a couple of selective herbicides, but that killed the Frogfruit as well. I've read that not watering can help to kill these plants, but I cannot control the rain.

I am at my wits end, and I'm seem to be out of viable options, and so I'm seriously considering abandoning this Frogfruit project completely because I cannot control these weeds. Any help would be welcomed.
Many thanks,
purpletalker


PurpleTalker