When you say 'ground cover' I get the impression that you are looking for a continuous blanket of plants near ground level. This will be tough, I think. Instead I would recommend you look for native plants that will do well in the various parts of the hill and create a natural looking hillside with scattered, healthy looking plants that have open space in between. You might move some of the rocks to the surface in between plants to create a sort of rock garden that could look really nice if done right. There are lots of native plants that will grow well on the hillside, and you might want to choose different ones for the shadier spots than you plant in the sunniest spots. It definitely is not true that nothing will survive under pine trees - a visit to any local mountain with pines will reveal that there are plenty of plants that grow well under pines.

For starters, I'ld plant some native salvias. These grow pretty fast, have great flowers, and many species will do well on a rocky slope. I like Salvia clevelandii which has blue flowers at this time of the year. There are several varieties of this plant to choose from - 'Pozo Blue' is one that does well in a place thet gets watered in the summer. Sometimes the wild verson of Salvia clevelandii doesn 't like to be watered in the summer. Another good choice is Black Sage - Salvia mellifera. this stays a little lower than cleveland sage, and is a tough plant once established. There are many others that would be good choices - check the website of las Pilitas nursery which is www-dot-laspilitas-dot-com and you'll find a page on salvias which will help you choose.

Another plant I'd consider is manzanita, which are common under pines in many parts of CA. Again, las Pilitas' website can help you select the right one. Manzanita is an evergreen, some stay low and others grow taller, and all are pretty plants. I'd also add some Monkeyflower. Orange monkeyflower -Diplaucus aurantiacus -is pretty common in much of southern CA and is easy to find in nurseries. It blooms much of the spring and summer and is both tough in dry conditions yet tolerant of some extra water in summer. you might not expect it, but some native plants don't do well with extra watering in the summer. It is likely you hillside, if it gets watered at all, has some areas that get a fair amount of water and others that barely get any. You'll want to be aware of these differences when you plant. You may find some plants thriving while others barely grow, and water is probably the difference, although variations in the soil and the amount of tree roots can make a big difference too.

Great suggestions, and you could add some mediterranean or australian ones as well, such as grevilleas and echium. There's an astonishing number of good looking flowering shrubs that are all drought tolerant. Keep in mind, though they look great flowering now, they need to be planted in the late fall prior to the rains. If you plant anything now, you'll need to be diligent with watering when dry. I'd suggest doing the prep and wait til they can get established. Seed now with wildflowers.

Ice plant is ideal living conditions for rodents. Replacing your top soil is counter intuitive unless you want to spend a fortune on irrigation - consider plants that survive in the existing environment. =^,,^=

I think it is a great suggestion too. However, I have a problem with the weeds. If I have open space between the plants and even it is filled with rocks, some will manage to grow and some will grow very tall. How do I control the weeds growth?

Depending on the steepness, try lots of mulch to control weeds. If you can pick it up yourself, you can get mulch cheaply at green waste recycling centers - use trash cans and fill them with buckets, as it's quick and easy, and you're going to need a lot of it.

Actually, I'm kinda envious - a slope is a great open palatte with good drainage, and many exceptional plants need such to survive. For example, Melianthus major drips nectar, but needs lots of room. Galvesia 'snapdragon' is bright red, low and sprawling. Cleveland sage is 10' wide but only 3' high, and the fragrance of spicy tangerines (at least to me) wafts in the breeze. Butterflies and birds love it. Cal Fuschia spreads quickly, and the hummingbirds fight over it....So many to choose from, but they need space to grow!

It will take a bit of research, but you'll find that you can grow anything from natives to proteas to plumeria!

Thanks again. Another concern, are the bushes a fire hazard? Ideally, the plants on the slope should serve three purposes: Beautify, fire break and erosion control. Thank you.

Hi there,
You just described one of my hillsides here in the sf bay area, right down to the old Montery Pine trees and horrible packed clay soil underneath that few things will grow in, and a previous owner who actually thought ICE PLANT would survive on a full-western exposure sloped hill. So we have a couple patches of this ice plant that clings to the hill, blooms a couple weeks a year, and the rest of it annual dry grasses (read: weeds) that either get weed whacked or pulled by hand in the spring after the risk of a mudslide is past. (Our hill isn't that big so hand weeding isn't impossible.)

We just repaired the retaining wall for this hill, which means our next project will be to finally plant something there to keep the soil from eroding that won't need to get whacked each spring.

Our landscaper recommended 2 plants: manzanita creeper, and a low-creeping ceanothus, I think it's called Carmel something. I think both are drought tolerant and natives. And low to the ground.

Another thing that grows well on our hill but seems to do better when it has partial shade is vinca minor. It grows really well in moderately shaded areas. It's also deer proof.

And finally, one thing that grows well here, even right below the pine tree right under where all the pine needles fall, is juniper. It's not as pretty, but it sure as heck holds the hill.

Have you gone to your local independent nursery? Tell them what you're working with in terms of your slope and soil and that you need a good ground cover... they'll steer you to something(s) that will grow well in your own little microclimate. Take advantage of their expertise, and then once you have the names of the plants you want you can start sourcing them out at the best prices.

Good luck,
-kristi

Thank you, Kristi. Good luck to your project too.

On the fire/erosion issue, unfortunately, most plants that are best for erosion control are worst for fire retardance and vice-versa. Ice plant (from your description I'm guessing it's aptenia) holds a lot of water but it has shallow roots and in a heavy enough rain it (and the top 6 inches of soil) will slide right off a steep slope like a tablecloth. Juniper has deep roots but firefighters hate it for good reason. I don't know where your slope is in relation to your house but plan accordingly.

Baccharis is usually recommended as the best erosion control plant out there.

I have a south facing, frying hot, crummy clay soil half acre slope with a severe rabbit problem. I need plants that are too mean and stupid to die, fire retardant, erosion resistant, and taste bad to hungry critters. Here's my list: echium (very happy plant, reseeds freely, I recommend it highly), matilija poppies, rhus (sugarbush), creeping acacia (not near the house), myoporum (gets some irrigation), cistus, catalina ironwood (ditto), oleander, toyon, chinese pistachio (tree), grevillea, california pepper tree. There's plenty more available (especially if you don't have frost or rabbits) but these have worked well for me. My area is just a little too cold for bougainvillea but it might work for you. I also agree with the prior poster's comments on salvias.

You will need to weed, especially the first year or two, but once the plants are well established the weeds will be less noticeable. With a very large slope I've given up on being 100% weed free, and instead focus my weeding energies where they would be most visible.

Deep, dry shade is a hard garden situation, so tolerate some bare spots directly under the pines.

And no matter what, wait until October to plant!

I'm in PQ right next to you and for 22 years lived at the base of a huge hill which is totally taken over and almost self contained by a sprinkler system but looks so good . We have 4 Hopseed bushes but never plant those because the seeds fly and now I have maybe 15+ totally ridiculous. My favorite is Plumbago which we planted a few gallon plants way back then but now they are huge and in bloom with blue flowers most of the year. Pyracanthia stays really nice, huge and does it's thing without help. When we moved in had five Yuccas which I took off the tops and placed them here and there and they too do well. I have short hills that I can Maintain but I've never been up top and it does so well all year long. Don't ever plant those fir palms whatever. There was one when we moved in and it got huge and was removed but the seeds blew and I have them growing everywhere and they are like knives to cut and impossible to control and therefore takes over everything. If ever you want to visit I'm at debbysunshine@hotmail.com and I'll give you the grand tour of my roses, cactus, succulants, ect. Great place to grow thing in San Diego

Thanks, Debbie. I will send you an email.

Regina, totally lost your number and address but was looking through this amazing herb book which shows all sort of foreign spices. We cook a lot of rice and veggies and I love Asian veggies and spices. My daughter is the queen of cooking with spices and veggies but she uses many Middle Eastern Spices Looking through this book and having a huge amount of spices from North County Produce they are so interchangeable so I think you should experiment. I use their own brands because they are less money and very fresh.
Went to Lucky Seafood yesterday in Mira Mesa ond noticed that it is basically Korean but I like it there and they have alot of things I can't get anywhere else but they sure don't have the spices like Poway does. The Chinese store on Camino Ruiz and Mira Mesa Blvd. is huge and probably has everything you need and might have a better selection of rice. You still can't beat North County Produce for price and varieties. debbysunshine@hotmail.com Debby

Other suggestions for dry shade:

ribes viburnifolium (catalina perfume)
symphoricarpus mollis (creeping snowberry)
salvia spathacea (hummingbird sage)

I would like to offer that manzanita is very very slow growing in southern Califoria. It is better suited to northern California. Try Yankee Point ceanothus or a lower growing ceanothus like Concha or Blue Jeans on the higher portions of the bank so they will not block sprayers and will not hold a lot of water which they don't like.