I use Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) here as a sturdy groundcover. As a native plant, it’s healthier for the ecosystem here than is Bermudagrass, and I enjoy watching the tiny insects that feed and breed on it.
Unlike behind the house, I have not removed Bermudagrass from the front lawn. However, I have intentionally not nurtured it at all and I encourage other things to compete with it. In the central area, the competitor is the wildflower meadow, and around two of the edges, the competitor is Frogfruit.
The Frogfruit areas in front of the house get mowed when the grass is mowed for about half of the year — that keeps it flat to the ground. However, in spring and summer, I skirt around those areas to keep the flowers which are feeding their little visitors (you can see the little white flowers in the first photo).
As I do every few months, here’s a review of the various places where I have Frogfruit. It spreads readily once it has established in an area, so I do periodically have to pull it back, i.e., yank out strands. Those strands can be composted, or plugged into bare spots here, or given to friends to fill their own bare spots.
The biggest Frogfruit area here is in the strip between the driveway and the neighbor’s yard on that side. From the house to about half-way to the sidewalk there is pretty much complete Frogfruit coverage, and there is partial coverage for the rest of that area. The Frogfruit is the lighter green in the photo below. (That one volunteer Indian Paintbrush is being preserved because I’d like to harvest its seeds to place in the wildflower meadow on the other side of the driveway — it volunteered just a few feet too far north and it’s the only one I have!)
Nearby is the “utility corner,” which was almost completely bare soil when we moved here. Frogfruit has taken over nicely.
The “hell strip” between the sidewalk and the street is still rather bare in places. So whenever we next have a decent rainfall to moisten the ground (can it please be soon?), I’ll move some strands from behind the house and plant them here.
There is a strip of Frogfruit immediately behind the house, which is my primary source for strands to plant elsewhere. Because this area isn’t walked on, the Frogfruit grows a few inches taller.
Frogfruit has infiltrated the Thunder Turf areas around the edge of the back garden. On the south side, that was deliberate because I thought that location might be a little too shaded by the fence for the native grasses. On the north side, the Frogfruit wandered there on its own and I didn’t stop it. Frogfruit is just as valid a native groundcover as are the Thunder Turf grasses, so I’m happy to let them sort themselves out.
In addition to the groundcover features of Frogfruit, I also have it scrambling over the original wood pile. I gave it a good cut-back in November 2024, and that might need to be an annual activity to keep it from getting too ambitious.
Rewilding My Lot 
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