ground cover with squash vines?

[Kageri]

I'm recovering from back problems and moving back in to a house with established gardens. The beds are pretty well maintained but I need to reduce work as much as possible. I was thinking of planting a ground cover around my squash and melons to crowd out weeds. If I could plant it when we move in beginning of aug and winter it over that would give a better start the next year. I'm in zone 5. I came up with phlox, short red clover, or creeping thyme. I'm not sure how aggressive any of those are. I do not want to crowd out my vines while trying to lessen weeds. Could this work and any suggestions?

[JC's Garden]

What kind of squash are you growing? My squash vines ARE ground cover. They crowd out everything else.

[applestar]

I papered and mulched:
Subject: 2014 Spiral Garden Garlic Onion Pea Corn Squash Cuke Beet

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I managed to paper the grassy area for the watermelon and squash vines to crawl out to.

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The stuff growing in this area between SFHX and HBR to the Bog Garden and fence to the right of the photo is intended to be used as mulching and compost greens material, so I let them grow long and cut them down as needed. I'm trying to grow some short growing native sedge in front of the bog where the squash is trying to grow, so I piled ONLY the cut sedge with seed heads and seedless grass in that area.

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...a day later...

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Now, their growing area has essentially doubled.

[Kageri]

Waltham Butternut squash and I don't remember what the watermelon is. I've never had squash or watermelon grow tight. It was always trailing vines with tons of gaps. I couldn't grow much though because of some bug issues. Everything around that place was full of bugs. My fruit would get eaten, I hardly got any strawberries before the beetles, and the squash and melon vines would get chewed up until they died. I eventually gave up growing such things at that house. I only had 1 successful year of watermelon.

[Lindsaylew82]

I'm a huge fan of brown paper or newspaper and straw mulch and yard waste mulch. It makes for a very tidy bed. I'm virtually weed free. I get some nutsedge and dandies, but the pull very easily.

My squash....


Here is a pic of some that are already planted with replacements. More that 2 months in, and close to weed free.