I do not think you will bw able to get the coverage you want from seeds in the time you have. I would suggest you order a few flats of trailing Rosemary which will provide the year around protection and almost carefree coverage of the area. Al

You need to call a company that does "Hydro-seeding". They will come out with a huge sprayer and put down a layer of spray that consists of seed, fertilizer and mulch.

The company will give you suggestions as to what kind of plant seed to use and when is the best time of the year to do the hydro-seeding.

Hi Karin,

Leaf litter from eucalyptus trees has an allelopathic effect on other vegetation, meaning that it retards both germination and plant growth. This is why eucalyptus stands form monocultures, with very little understory. Because of this, you may want to do some research on plants that can do well in this situation. (I'm sure someone here will know.)

Re: Starting seeds in winter. If you want to try this, I invite you to come over to the winter sowing forum, where we happily start seeds all winter long.

Here is a link that might be useful: Winter sowing forum

Karin, I recently had a similar problem. We planted the area twice and nothing survived. I finally contacted Joe (garden guru) who happens to live near us.
He gave us a list of bullet proof plants that grow under eucs. We planted according to his directions. All are thriving!
My suggestion, contact Joe and purchase his cd, which has this info on it (No, we're not related).
Joe won't push this on our forum, but I feel it's the best money ever spent on our garden.

You say you don't like the 100' eucalyptus trees. Have you ever considered cutting them to just above the ground and letting them regrow? Our neighbor did this for firewood a couple of years ago, and everywhere there was a stump is now a nice stand of smaller trees growing off the old stump.... It looks a lot better than before he cut the old straggely ones down. Just a thought.......

One problem you might encounter is that some people are allergic to eucs. I found I was a few years ago thru general allergy tests...even though I didn't realize it. If you cut it for firewood this may be a problem.

Calistoga, I know I wont get a full coverage in only a year I just want it to look less like an empty lot and more like a recently planted semi-cared-for area. Empty spaces will get filled in (mulched!) with fallen leaves. If I start seeds now (I actually do have some creeping thyme and rosemary), IÂll have 4-5 months to grow them out in flats. Isn't that enough time? Or are you saying I should be planting outside from flats right NOW? That would be difficult, because the "soil" stays pickaxe hard until it starts raining regularly.

Cagary, I briefly looked into hydro-seeding, but it would be quite expensive. A homeowner a few miles up my road did it last year and I didnÂt really like the effect it looked vaguely industrial/unnatural somehow. Besides, I love to garden, so that would take all my fun away! (And believe me, until we get to interior decorating, this will be the ONLY fun part of this project for me.)

SusanC, indeed, when I realized how overwhelming the eucs were, I started to do research on eucalyptus understory. (The Australian National Botanic Gardens website is incredible!) I found a lot of promising plants, but most of the seeds were really hard to find, and I donÂt know how successful they would really be. If we were going to stay in this house for longer, IÂd be more willing to experiment, but at this point I think it's safer to go for plants IÂve seen growing well in the area. BTW, thanks so much for the referral to the Winter Sowing forum! I didnÂt even know it existed. IÂve been gardening my whole life, but grew up in NYC, so IÂve never had the seasons (or the space) to try winter sowing before. I'm inspired!

Thanks to for taking the time to reply you guys; I really appreciate it!

sumcool, Ive lurked in this forum for a while, and it didnt take me long to create a whole folder full of gardenguru stuff. Im a huge fan! (Gardenguru, you dont know me, but I love you!) His CD is definitely on my wish-list.

Westelle and deanSFBA, believe me, I fantasize about cutting those trees at least once a week. How I hate them. OMG, they are so dangerous and so profoundly UGLY!! The peeling bark, the clumpy droopy asymmetric crown, the everlasting buttons that dent my car and make me slip like Im walking on marbles. I simply cant understand why anyone would purposely plant a eucalyptus. Jeez, plant a maple or an aspen or something. Those are REAL trees. We spent several thousand dollars (ouch!) on euc removal as soon as we got into this house. We took down about 25 trees. (Which we happily burned last winter its not the greatest firewood, but its free.) However, the ten or so that remain are located in such a way that if/when cut, they will land on my house, my garage, the overhead power lines and/or neighboring house(s). Which means it will cost as much to take them out as it cost to take out the other 25. Probably more, actually. Sigh.

karinova,

I don't have much to add to what others said, but your neighbor should be responsible for mitigating the erosion caused by their runoff. You might want to call your city to find out if there are any local or state regulations covering your situation and then have a talk with your neighbor.

Ryan

I have a "Eucalyptus Hill" as well, but mine is behind me. I have done some assymetrical terracing (myself on a small scale with landscape bricks) and in several of the terraces I planted Italian Cypress which, given the semi-steep slope and the assymetrical planting, look very Tuscan. I bought the samll ones (1 gal - $3.99 at Lowes) and within a year they have tripled in size. I also planted a lot of agapanthus (they don't require a lot of attention) and I separated several old daylillies into about 20 plants each. All are thriving under my eucalyptus canpoy (though they do get direct sunlight (facing east) for at least 3 hours in the a.m.

Try UCSC Arboretum for info on Australian plants, Eucs are from Australia, they have an extensive Australian garden up there and some Eucs so they probably can tell you some good understory plants for your area.

As far as your soil goes, I feel for you as I have horrible clay soil up here in Boulder Creek and all I can say is amend, amend amend.