Question
I have 2 questions.
1)  I moved into my home in November and am trying to get my lawn healthy and weed free.  I am having problems with dandylions and other various weeds in my yard.  What is the best (and quickest) way to get rid of the weeds and make my lawn looks its best?

2)  In my back yard, I have a step hill side that is about 60feet long and ten feet high.  At the bottom of the hill is a stone wall.  I want to get rid of the grass on the hillside and plant some sort of groud cover that is basically maintanance free and pretty.  I was thinking of creeping phlox.  Do I need to take out all of the grass to do this?  What is the best way to start this project?  Are there any other ground covering plants that you would suggest?

THank you.
Joy Bailey

Answer
GreenLight WipeOut is a broad leaf weed killer that is absorbed through the leaves, root system, or ground, so spraying broad-leaved weeds will completely destroy them.
Best to spray after morning dew has dried up, so weeds will absorb more. You should see the weeds looking weak in a few hours.
The squirrels and blue jays seed teeny pecans in among my climbing roses.
I don't want the roses harmed, so I over the rosebush with a protective cloth, and paint some of the leaves, and the trunk of the pecan tree, with 1 part WipeOut, and 2 parts water.
After it dries, I remove the plastic. this kills out the pecan tree, buy going through the leaves and trunk, down to the tap root.
Those little trees have a tap root twice as long as what is showing above ground. sometimes it takes a second application.
WipeOut, will kill ALL broad leaved vegetation it comes into contact with, sooooo, that is why I  am telling you about my roses. A drop or two, on one or two leaves, would probably wipe out my rose bush.
It will NOT harm broad leaved grasses, such as st. augustine, but it WILL kill any plants it hits, if there is overspray.
Roundup kills ALL it comes into contact with. It must saturate the leaves, or blades of grass, not the ground, or tree trunks, but it will leave barren ground where it is sprayed on weeds that are growing in grass, and nothing will grow there for 6 months to a year. Many other weed killers also kill rasses.
I don't use weed killers, except for painting the leaves of trees, growing in my roses.
Cats are attracted by weed killers, and will eat grasses and weeds it is on, and they die a terrible death.
Children playing on areas that have been sprayed with weed killers can become very ill. Other animals can also be harmed.weed killers kill the toads, grass snakes and lizards that keep my plants insect free.
I use sugar.
Yep, plain old table sugar.
Dry molasses is recommended, but sugar works as well, and the smaller bags are easier to handle, for me, than the 40 pound bags of dry molases. The cost is about the same.
When you fertilize, the cemicals in the fertilize ill beneficial microbes that enrich soil. When you fertilize, you should put down dry molasses (or sugar) and water it in with the fertilizer. this keeps the microbes alive, and maximizes the benefits of the feeding.
work on enriching the soil, and the weeds will take care of themselves. Weeds like poor soil, they will come up, but will not thrive in rich soil, and will die out soon.
The first 3 or 4 years, after I started using the sugar, my dandelions, johnson grass, crabgrass and clover came up. We just mowed them with the grass. After a couple of mowings, they were no longer there. No more weed pulling or digging!!!!! after that, they have no even come up, and my next door neighbor has a WEED FARM.
I put down sugar in the spring and again in the fall, and I only have feed a little iron, every 4 to 5 years. I have the thickest, greenest, and most weed-free lawn in the neighborhood, and it stays green after all the other lawns have browned out for the winter, and it greens up sooner in the spring.
No, it doesn't cause ants. You water it in thoroughly.

Your hillside:
Sounds like a great idea.
There are many ground covers you could plant. A Good many of them are evergreen, so you would have the look all year round.
I don't know what your climate is there, and how much sun and/or shade you have in that area, but the world is wide open to you.
I have Asian Jasmine in an area in my front yard, that gets a lot od sun in part of it, and almost total shade in the rest.In the total shade part, it doesn't spread very fast, but in the partial to full sun part, it spreads like the dickens, and I even have to thin it out a little, every few years.It is evergreen and looks beautiful all yer round.
I let anyone who wants some of it, come and pull up all the runners they want.
Keeps mine thinned out, and spreads it around to others.
I have large containers around in it, and I plant my herbs in them. I grow almost all my own herbs for cooking, aroma therapy, and some are for repelling harmful or disgusting insects in my house. I don't like bugs in my house.I repel cockroaches, house flies, etc with herbs, and they smell nice too. You could grow roses and other flowers in large containers, set in among the ground cover, and they are easier to maintain in containers.
You could have a virtual Eden on that hillside!
Go to this site, and look up ground covers. You can find lots in there, and it will tell you what areas they grow best in, and whether they need shade or sun.

www.nationalgardening.com

You can also order plants from there. I have ordered from them with very satisfactory results.
Some other sites worth looking at.

www.gardeners.com

www.gardenweb.com

Happy gardening!!!!