Creeping phlox weeding and pruning

(Ohio)

My slope has been well established with creeping phlox almost fully covering it and the other rock garden flowers as well. Lovely for two weeks in spring. In early years much time was spent keeping it weed free but tall wispy grass continues to grow prolificly in the mist of it and reaching through the prickly phlox makes removal very difficult. We have resorted to a weed whip to give it a periodic haircut. Any suggestions or should we just mow it all off?

Doug says that the weed whipper is used in commercial nurseries to thicken them up as well. But not whack them to the ground - just trim off the edges. Having said that, when you remove the foliage, you will open up the soil to more weed seed germination. It's a bit of a catch-22 - you want it open to weed but opening it up will increase the weed seed germination giving you more weeds.

Let me recommend a good leather glove and small tool like a hoe-mi (also called a weed-eze available from better online retailers) to root out the weeds. You can easily walk all over Phlox subulata without damaging it so that's no problem.

No easy solution to this one other than protective clothing.