Thanks for the advice. As far as the ivy, we have deer that come and go, and I believe they LOVE ivy!! So that was one of the reasons I ruled that out. As for the pachysandra, I did have that in another home with the same sloping situation, however, it was also in a sunny location, needed tons of water to keep it from dying in the summer. I've had it growing in shady spots, and it did wonderfully, but am hesitant to go with it again due to the full sun exposure and the past experience. I'd love to fill in the slope with spring bulbs, ONCE I've established the right ground cover. As far as the vinca minor and creeping phlox, will they die off during the winter, and leave me just a bare area, or will there still be some vegitation? Not too familiar with them. I appreciate your input.

If you plan to plant groundcover around a narrower footpath, vinca would do quite well. You can't kill the stuff. With a few taller shade plants here and there you could have quite a pretty little path. Sometimes tree surgeons give away wood chips, which you could use for the foot path (but be careful - some chips are so large and coarse as to be unusable - check first!) And you shouldn't need to buy pachysandra or vinca - it's easy to find for free. When you're ready for it, post a request with your location in NJ. Good luck with your project. MsB

A lot of it comes down to what's available in your area. Up here in New England, we have lots of granite and it's not hard to find crushed granite or "turkey grit" -- small, sharp-edged pebbles of granite, granite gneiss or other such rock. But I notice that in a lot of other regions, the availability varies. You can usually order stuff special if you have the budget, and a reliable stoneyard will "import" it from another part of the country. But the places that carry only native/local materials may be able to offer only sandstone, limestone, or whatever the regional "stone du jour" happens to be.

Where are you located? Common bacopa is really Sutera cordata, an annual in most climates except those that are frost free. True bacopa, Bacopa monnieri, aka waterhyssop, is an aquatic species, native to wetlands. Neither would make a very good permanent ground cover and both would require copious irrigation to flourish. An inch of water daily is a heavy requirement for a groundcover!! The best GC's are those that you can plant and forget after a short period of establishment. A more permanent, evergreen and very drought tolerant groundcover would be a better choice but would need to know where exactly you are located to make a suitable suggestion.