You have to keep reminding yourself that this won't be a quick project. Since you're starting from scratch on a difficult area, I'd guess this will take several years of trial and error to get a look you're happy with. The stepping areas and feeders/birdbath are great ideas.

There isn't much point in adding a lot of mulch to an area that you're not ready to plant yet - certainly add an inch or two, if you think it'll stay there. It will break down and the soil will be better when you get to planting the area, but until you get some rooted plants into that area the new soil and the mulch will erode a bit.

I wouldn't pull up the weeds - their roots will help stabilize the area until you're ready to tackle it. You can dump some mulch on them and it'll help kill off the bits growing above ground without removing the roots. If you spray with Round Up (might not be allowed anymore in Halifax area?) that will kill off the weeds without removing the roots, but... Round Up takes a few days to a few weeks to break down, and you've got a slope where the rain will run down and wash that stuff onto your lawn or other plants. Might not be a wise idea :-) I would just dump mulch onto them a couple of times a year and gently pull out what is really loose. It takes longer, but you are solving the poor soil problem that way too. In general I am not a fan of herbicides and pesticides since almost all problems they are used for can be sloved with better cultural practices or gardening techniques.

I don't know if this would work for you, but if you want to add a lot of mulch right now, and have it stay put, you could place chicken wire or hardware cloth over the mulch (pin the chicken wire to the ground with stakes). A heavy rain might erode some of it, especially in the steeper parts, but it would help a bit at least.

About your seeds you plan to use next spring - a word of caution. Seeds are a great way to fill up the slope quickly and without breaking the bank, but stay away from the generic 'wildflower' mixes you can get in Canadian Tire and places like that. They contain a lot of weedy seeds and very few seeds of plants you actually want to have growing there. Buy a good quality wildflower mix - it won't be that much more expensive and it'll be a major improvement over the cheaper stuff.

Seeds can wash away fairly easily, so you might want to consider laying down some thin jute or burlap to sow them in or under (that protective burlap you get to wrap shrubs in the winter would work). Sow then as soon as the snow melts. Or you could wintersow them (or some of them) in containers and plant the resulting seedlings in your nooks and crannies.

The Japanese Maple being shallow rooted might be a problem if you were planting it directly on the slope. Shallow rooted plants will have a harder time staying put on a slope, but if you build it a nice sized terrace, then it might be perfect. Select one that is hardier than would normally be necessary for your area because of the cold flowing downhill problem.

You have a swampy lawn huh? That's a drainage problem. You have neighbours higher up the hill than you do? That's almost certainly where your water is coming from. Peat moss might mop up a bit of water, but I doubt it'd solve your problem. A permanent fix would be to regrade your lawn, but that's not cheap (or have your neighbour regrade his, but that's a lot to ask from a neighbour). You could also install a French drain type of thing to drain the water to a lower lying area or drain - that's cheaper, and a do-it-yourself project if you want, but still a lot of work. You could decide to grow a bog garden in that spot - irises, cannas, lots of neat grasses...

I think your slope provides you with some really neat garden terrain - my 'fantasy garden' always has a nice terraced slope full of plants, but it is going to be more challenging than building 'ye olde generic bed'.

BP

As usual, bonniepunch, your generousity in sharing your wisdom is greatly appreciated....

I googled "french drain" and got an idea to use all of the smooth bluish "river rock" I've been collecting as I dig up my garden plots (dozens and dozens of regular old 'ugly' rocks went to the dump, but for some reason I've been holding on to these pretty ones for an unknown future project).

In the spring, I sat on my shed steps and swore I could hear actual water flowing beneath me - like when I used to live beside a brook!!! I have already added sodd (taken from other areas of the lawn that I'd turned into flower plots) to the especially low dipping areas of the lawn (I'm not sure that it was every graded - neighbours told me that the backyard had been entirely vegetable gardens for decades. I think a recent previous seller just did a quick fix and had some dirt dumped in and raked out. It is full of pot holes and dips.) I won't be able to have it professionally graded, but will continue to add soil and level "by hand". As you mention, this is a long, on-going project; and I certainly won't be starting the drain this year. But will plan ahead for next spring. Thank you for the direction!!

I still need some clarity on a couple of points though: The peat moss - you used the term "mop up a bit of water" which suggests to me that the use of peat moss helps to rid an area of unwanted moisture. How can it do both that and add moisture to dry areas (as in lasagna gardening or just added to make "loamy soil")?

Also, I received a pretty package of "butterfly and hummingbird attracting wild flowers" as a gift. No particular mention of the contents, but the packaging suggests that it was not a cheap seed envelope from Cdn Tire or the like. However, as to how to plant them.... sprinkle on or scratch down into the mulch?

Thanks, Karen

This might be too much solution for you, but we had a low spot in our garden at our previous home - properties on either side and from behind sloped towards us. In the spring, with the snow melting, we had a lake there.

We had a pit dug at that spot - about 5 feet deep, and 6 feet wide, 6 feet long.

Filled it with gravel to about 4 feet deep, covered the gravel with some kind of cloth I got by phoning around. Not sure what it's called, but it's white, looks rather like very thick fleece, and is apparently used under highways. I lucked out and got it for free - a remnant from an excavating company.

Anyway, it lets water through and not the soil. Topped that off with a foot of soil and made a raised vegetable garden on top that was about 8 X 8 feet. Grew the best vegetables ever in that spot!!

Good luck!

Hi, I'm sticking my nose in again, there's a new forum on hillside gardening, take a look, you can dream about it over the dormant season. Rai

I love this whole forum thing! Love the fact that people I've never even met before bother to take the time to "stick their nose in"! Love it! Never too many solution ideas.

Big rain on Wednesday, the mulch survived beautifully. God bless mother nature and a good twist of fate. The meadow garden is in memory of my sister who died at the end of June. It will hopefully resemble, in time, a smig'en of the "safe place" she envisioned during some of her most painful days.

God bless everyone; and peaceful, restful, dreamful wintering! Karen