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

I know this is late in the thread but I just thought I would add my thoughts for late bloomers like me who find this post. I spray round up that kills grass and weeds, then I wait a week and hit again, then after a week I till, then I spray one last time and cover with weed mat.(I do weed mat before and after chicken wire to prevent future rusting at a rapid rate (raised garden bed). I use (2x10) treated wood planks to frame in my garden, Then I lay chicken wire for gofers. Then I Lay fresh soil (your choice for your garden type and area) I then start treating the soil with my old veggies and left overs from my compost pile, and I use only organic vitamins from this point on (all weeding by hand) come planting time I till/turn again throw on some fresh top soil and build my berms and start planting. I found if your not a huge fan of weeding and your near lawn, to prevent spouts from mowing, the raised bed gives me little more protection from lawn clippings flying around and the weed mat and new soil almost prevent any growing trouble makers. I go a little crazy and heavy on the weed mat but I hardly have to wee. I also built a raised compost pile on 4x4 legs that allows me to keep bugs and ants away via bug spraying the legs so my future nutrients can rot in piece without any issues. I also lay down some wood or cardboard in a hidden corner of my yard for worms to come up then I add them to my compost along with any fish remains from gutting my fish. I also have a chicken wire lid on my compost to keep out varmints. I hope this helps, I just moved into a bigger house so I am starting my garden all over (again) so I will send pics as I go in a follow up.

What you have there is an Australian native plant called Anigozanthos commonly called Kangaroo Paw. Dee.

As pointed out in the previous post, you need to find out what type of grasses are growing in you area. Even if they are native, you would probably need to kill off patches or strips of the grass to allow successful planting of wildflower seed (or even potted or bare-root plants). Most non-native pasture grasses are probably to aggressive for you to successfully interplant forbs -- you would probably need to kill off the whole grass area and start from scratch. Starting a meadow planting is not as simple as you might think, and it will take a couple years to nurture a successful mixed native grass/wildflower planting. However, it is a fairly straightforward process, not rocket science. If you search through this forum, you will find many messages that describe the basic procedure. Another good source is the web site for Wild Ones, an organization dedicated to landscaping with native plants. Also, if you find a good commercial source of native plants and seeds in your region, they should be able to give you good advice about how to prepare and plant your site. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: Wild Ones