Looking at house from slope Looking at slope from back door Between properties

julespa, you should go to the hillside gardening forum. A few months back I explained how I hand terraced my 45 degree slope of a garden, right on a stone hill. I really hope to put some pictures up, but search for terracing on the hillside forum and you should get some answers to start with. Batya

I would recommended a mix of native grasses and wildflowers that can tolerate both inundation and drought. I would recommend that you use a netted straw blanket, to hold the seed and soil in place until it can get established. In your case, I may use a permanent to semi-permanent soil stabilization matrix... or I would use a hydroseed with sticky mulch. Its a specialty application, its not real expensive but you do need to find someone who knows what they are doing, because if its not installed correctly it won't work and would be a waste of money. I'm not sure who the local sales rep. is for Ero-tex in your area, but you can go to their web site, fill out a form and request an onsite consultation. Their sales rep should be able to hook you up with a local contractor who knows what they are doing. I don't work for this company, but I've used their expertise and find them to be very knowledgeable. Here is a link that might be useful: Ero-tex

Terrace Construction Outline and Description: (see also: Mollison, Bill. Permaculture: A Designers Manual. Tagari Publications. 1988) Exceptions to suitability of land to terracing arised when we: -Attempt to terrace in unstable soils or sediments; -Risk hydraulic pressures on hill slopes from impounded or infiltrated water; -Create terraces that are unstable at the bund or wall face; -Extend terracing as annual crop over too large a proportion of the landscape, and so lose leaf or tree nutrient input to crop; and -Make very large series of terraces in high rainfall areas, so that run-off is concentrated. With a useful assessment of the above factors in mind, we can gain long-term production from short series of polycultural terraces (wet and dry crops), with stable bunds (either rock-walled or a 1:3 slope). Trees, on bunds and between, above, and below terrace series, should form 40-60% of the total landscape plan, and both soils and installed water inlets and outlets should permit safe and controllable irrigation. The great benefits of terraces are these: -Very easy crop access on slopes; -Easily controlled and effective irrigation procedures; -Minimal soil loss due to overland water flow, or to slope cultivation; and -A potential gain in silts or nutrients in irrigation or run-off waters and from leaf fall. As with dams, terracing is most effective where slopes are least, as earth moves versus area of cropland developed becomes impractical or inefficient as slopes steepen. At about 30° slope, but preferably at 10-18°, terracing becomes worthwhile. Terrace construction always begins on the lowest terrace level, with the removal and stockpiling of topsoil over the whole area of the lower terraces, and proceeds uphill as each terrace is made, so that the topsoil of the next highest level is cleared on to the preceding lower terrace. Stockpiled soil at the lowest terrace is finally carted or lifted to the last of the series uphill. Every Terrace system is ideally designed to allow perennial bund and terrace wall plants, specifically for wall stability and green manure crop. As for the extent and series size in a terrace system it is wise to limit both on the basis of: -Heavy rainfall (hence expected run-off) in tropics; and -Expected rainfall harvest in arid areas, where total terrace areas should not exceed one-twentieth of the catchment harvested, and where perennial or adapted crop (never water-demanding crop) should form the selected species. Thus, all terrace systems should aim to occupy no more than 30% of tropical or 5% of dryland areas, and in the tropics tree crop should be developed to maintain fertility of the terrace areas. Water catchment areas should be developed to do the same for arid areas, so that run-off brings leaf mulch to terraced slopes. In humid cool or tropical areas, wet terraces (10-20% of all terrace areas) can be devoted to a fish-plant polyculture, giving yields of fish, shellfish, and water plant products. Yields of protein from water cultures can exceed all land-based systems if managed at the same levels of husbandry and care. Wherever people occupy very steep sites (slopes of 20° or more), especially in areas of high rainfall, it is preferable to abandon broad terracing for a series of 4-6 narrow production terraces, each series carefully drained to spill excess rain down permanently vegetated slopes. Thus, by ridging the terrace tips, mulching paths, and staggering path spills in short series, we can get the advantages of terrace on quite steep slopes without risking erosion and soil loss. Needless to say, machines are inappropriate for such construction, and steep slope terracing of this nature is always hand-cut.