Sorry, I was being tongue in cheek about the shoe spikes. I'm complaining that its much harder to navigate the hill than it used to be. The similarly steep slope on the south side was planted (by developer) with 3 rows of white pines after grass had been laid down. They seem to be doing fine after 4 years. But I don't want to hide my view in front with tall trees or go the monoculture route. I read the following on a native CA plant nursery site (link provided) when researching about planting slopes. Why wouldn't it be the same for Maryland native plants? (They really think grass is a bad idea to use on slopes. I am seeing areas of erosion on my grassy slopes.) "A mixture of deep-rooted [California ] native shrubs, and trees, mixed with shallow-rooted shrubs, and perennials, mulched and with no weeds, will control erosion on the slope. Why should you plant a [California] native plant community on the slope and not grass or ice plant! Because the native plants connect with each other underground, and the microorganisms that live in association with them produce tiny threads that ramify through the soil, coiling around particles of sand and clay and holding them, and also producing glue-like compounds to hold the soil particles. This interconnection, I guess you could think of it as a natural microorganism community underground living in cooperation with the plant community aboveground, which the grass and iceplant, and other alien plants do not possess, is why it is critical to plant [California] native plants in a spaced plant community to control erosion on a slope. From the San Dimas Research Experiment of erosion and hillside runoff. "The concept that surface runoff is rare on any undisturbed watershed...has become accepted among forest hydrologists and seems equally to apply on the San Dimas experimental Forest." (Patric) If the hillside has native plants covering it, there was no runoff and the soil slowly released the water over the season. A trace of runoff from native plant covered slopes. Grass covered slopes lead to hillside erosion and possible landslides. 30-75% of all rainfall on grass- covered slopes ran off. The native plant -covered slopes also stayed drier in winter. Weedy or grass cover slopes get very wet very fast and either shed water or slide mud. Iceplant, Vinca, Ivy fits the weedy role, not the native role. So bare soil or grass (or straw) -covered slopes experience boundless erosion through mudslides (wet slopes) and surface gullies when compared to the "beggarly erosion of slopes planted in a community of native plants". Here is a link that might be useful: How to landscape a hillside slope

As you have found out, anything you plant on the slope is going to have to be weeded. 'Shading out' weeds isn't really a viable strategy when talking about woody weeds. Since the forest primeval was a very dark and gloomy place, a lot of the plants that grew there adapted to growing for years in quite heavy shade. So planting a thick shrub simply makes it harder to get at the weeds when they have grown taller than the shrub and become visible. Around here, it is very common for maples and sumac to suddenly show themselves over the top of junipers when nobody has weeded out the juniper bases. The usual, practical solution is to see if the slope is mowable. If it is, then let the lawnmower deal with the mess. If it isn't, then plan on going through it once or twice a year and pulling weeds.

Baci, I guess so, as the article says. I live in San Jose, far from the high desert, but have become a fan of desert flowers since visiting Anza-Borrego in spring. Be careful whenever you purchase commercial wildflower mixes: they don't always contain California native wildflowers. Lovely as non-native flowers are, they are not threatened or endangered like many of our native wildflowers, which are being lost to construction, development, and sod at a rapid rate. It gives me great satisfaction to plant native plants, which likely grew on the site not too long ago and were part of an ecosystem that lasted thousands of years until we started tinkering with it on a massive scale. So I only buy wildflower seeds from organizations that have strong native plant knowledge and credentials. All species mentioned in the article above are indeed California native and highly suited for California high desert landscapes.

While our backyard is essentially level, one side is sloped and drops down. Water from rain has begun to erode it. I'd appreciate any suggestions for groundcovers that would help stop the erosion. The slope has an all-day-sun exposure and the soil is pretty decent (if a bit heavy on the clay). I've read that creeping juniper has been used with positive results but there may be better alternatives. Thanks.