Our hill was difficult to mow, but I love gardening, so I planted a variety of groundcovers, some ornamental grasses, tough low-growing roses, and some bulbs. (and the rocks!)

It did not cost very much, but took alot of time. There was only grass growing on this hill, which I removed by hand so weeds have not been too much of a problem, and the soil is pretty good. Things have spread nicely in the 18 months since I started.

Here's a picture of part of the hill.
Warning! This is a very bad, old picture of a work in progress!

{{gwi:26277}}

I'm not sure what you mean by "functional" I am might be on a totally different wavelength, I usually am.

That's the kind of info I am looking for. By functional, I just meant my goal is not to win any landscaping awards, I just want to cover the hill so it looks decent and I don't have to spend much time maintaining it.

What are some of the plants that you used?

Thanks
Rich

Even if you plant things, you have to get all over the surface to keep weeds under control as stuff grows in, to control, to cut back in fall, and so on. So it seems to me that a way of keeping your footing is necessary no matter what you do. Maureen's area looks a little smaller than yours; I'm guessing it can be weeded in relative safety (although likely with no more dignity than I usually muster diving into my shrubbery :-)).

All that to say that I really think there should be some rocks or retaining walls in your future. These can be done on the cheap (free rocks and some strong friends, broken concrete chunks, or prefab concrete wallstones) or higher end (natural quarried wallstone) and can look very nice at any price point.
You can build the wall at the bottom or cut the slope in two and put a wall half-way... lots of options. At least a set of rock steps would get you started.

KarinL

You have a very large area to fill, and it's now a serious maintenance problem. Replacing grass with a tough groundcover can't be done cheaply--you'll have to kill or remove the grass, and you'll still have to weed for several years until your groundover establishes. I suggest you look at Rhus aromatica 'Gro-Lo' and /or Hypericum calycinum--both low shrubs that spread by suckering. You might also use a sweep of some low junipers.

You may wish to start with a map of the area on graph paper. Pick a collection of perhaps 1/2 dozen items that could work together and start mapping it out (juniper, cotoneaster, potentilla, threadleaf coreopsis, russian sage, vinca or ajuga for ground cover and some grasses, for example...all fairly drought tolerant). I think you will find that you will need many more plants than you realize and a couple of hundred may not be a fair estimate of the cost. 40 by 120 is 4800 square feet; that's a lot of area to cover, especially if you don't wish to mulch it and therefore you need to pack the plants in tightly.

Perhaps you can start small. Make a long-term plan and start with a section this year and add to it over time. I like using a 5 year plan and certainly in 5 years you should be able to cover that bank well without it hurting the pocket book too much.

I have added many more rocks so I can work more easily.

To save money, I used bits of plants I already had and bought some from Bluestone: Geranium macrorrhizum, lamb's ears, Sedum dragons blood, cerastium (snow-in summer), helictrotrichon (blue oat grass - doesn't need much cutting back like other grasses), nepeta, Hypericum calycinum, some short daylilies, Ceratostigma Plumbaginoides (plumbago - comes up very late so I planted with little species tulips.)

I also used some low growing rugosa roses: Charles Albanel (still very small, I don't know how they'll do) and Paulii (which got 12 feet wide in its first year in the ground. It is very beautiful in bloom but is viciously thorned and may be difficult to work around in the future.

Watering to get the plants established has been a bigger problem than weeding, since I did a very thorough job removing the grass. I planted the smaller groundcovers 12-18 inches apart.

The other ideas given are great, especially if you have help or can spend money on retaining walls. I am working by myself. I took a few tumbles. Dignity? what dignity?

I love the ornamental grasses. They really do get packed together over time. The one I have is for shade not full sun so it wouldn't help you but there are some that will fit your requirements.

I agree with the recommendation of low Juniper. They are tough, drought tolerant, sun loving and evergreen. Once established, maintenance would be much easier than a deciduous choice for clean up and pruning. Select a variety for preferred height, width, habit and color choice. The faster and larger growing varieties are cheaper but ultimately might be too large for the situation. Give proper spacing, mulch well and give proper watering through establishment. Sometimes we will plant more for quicker coverage with planned removal of the filler plants. Sargent's Juniper might be a good choice for size, habit and resistance to Juniper Blight.

Thanks everyone for ideas. What do you think about just using a ground cover on the hill? If ground cover would work, what kind(s) do you recommend?

How do you stop ground cover from invading the neighbor's yard?

I have so many higher priority yard projects to do this Spring and Summer, I just don't have enough time to "landscape" the hill this year. At the top of the hill, I already have about 10 shrubs and small trees, so I think a ground cover would look OK with whats already there.

Thanks,
Rich

Are you trying to plant a perennial garden, or cover a slope in a tough groundcover?

They're not completely exclusive, but a lot of the things you've said you're planting go dormant in winter and leave bare spots--the more space they cover, the larger the bare spot. Their roots will help control erosion, but won't have the same effect as a true evergreen groundcover that helps block pounding rain and runoff, or block weed growth year round. The perennials will to some extent require maintenance if not the type that spread happily without dividing.

So, you'd first have to decide on your functionality and look--whether a large variety of evergreen and dormant material, or a large homogeneous evergreen cover, perhaps with a few planting pockets in convenient areas.

Or, maybe I'm being a little to stiff--you could, for example, try growing just a whole bunch of stuff up there and see what happens. But, I anticipate some more prolonged maintenance requiring real interest in active gardening, if you try to use too many different species.

>>frankie_in_zone_7. I just want a groundcover that requires minimal maintenance. The level part of the yard is already landscaped up to the edge of the hill, so I think a groundcover will look fine. And I have fruit trees, berries, and a large garden to keep me busy.

So I need recommendations on good groundcover plants that need little maintenance.

Rich

Sounds like the perfect place for creeping junipers; you could make a gorgeous tapestry of different types.

Only problem is that the process of growing them in will require weeding in the interim. But, that is true of anything you grow, and at least the junipers have the benefit of looking good all the time, while most other groundcovers have a ratty season or two.

KarinL

You could post on the Groundcover forum and get a lot of input on pros and cons of various species. Your photos and zone/water information will help.

Thanks for ideas of creeping junipers and posting in ground cover forum.

Rich

How about daylilies? They love the sun and spread fairly well.

Could also consider Morning Glories, but they reseed like crazy!

I think that maureeninmd has the right approach to the solution here. I drive by pleanty of homes here in Western Pennsylvania that have "hills" in front of their property that can't be mowed. I have seen these home owners cover the ground with plastic for one season to kill the grass. Then, put mulch over the area.

The next season, you have the ability to plant anything easily. This is a low cost and easy DIY job. The most expensive part of the job will be the plastic and the mulch for the first year. After that, you should have no problem maintaining.

The plants are the expensive part. I think easy plants for the area would be daffodils and crocuses for spring. And, lilies and cone flowers for early summer through fall. All low maintenance plants. Every year just add a few more until it is full enough for your taste.