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Minnesota Gardening

fast ground cover for steep slope

17 years ago

I would like to find a hardy plant that will spread quickly for a very steep slope in the front of our house. one side is medium shade one side is sun/shade. I know pachysandra might work but I was hoping for something different. any ideas?

We plan on putting a tuckunder garage there in a couple years so don't want to spend a bunch of money only to have to tear it all out. So this is basically some stop gap landscaping. It's impossible to mow and looks like heck so we gotta do something!

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Comments (7)

meeperx
17 years ago
You can get vinca pretty cheaply on ebay. 200 bare root for $20.

Here is a link that might be useful: ebay link
zenpotter
17 years ago
I live on a hill and have lot's of steep slope to plant on in both shade, part shade and sun. I don't have all fast growing plants , but here are some that are.
sedum-variegated Kamschatka, day lilies, bishops weed, Fragaria Lipstick - alpine Strawberry, spider wort and I will probably think of more later.
Check out my answer to "Need 1 Gallon Pots" I posted several sites where you can get free or cheap stuff and right now people are posting plants. I got several bags of host over the weekend. Send me an e-mail I have a few things I can give you. I am in south Mpls.

Pauline
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I have been doing a lot of research on plants that don't need a lot of water since we bought a 3 acre property in lake mathews, ca. Here's what I have so far...verbena rigida, creeping raspberry...both spread very fast and require little water. I will be buying these for our slopes. delosperma cooperi is similar to ice plant but very hardy and does not require as much water.... Ice plant requires a lot of water and its heavy. That is what we have currently and we will be replacing it with what I have written here. All our slopes have ice plant and we are trying to save water costs. So I will be adding those ground covers and adding water wise bushes and other plants. Snow in summer also sounds like a good plant to add. They say it spreads fast and it's very nice... I also want to add fremontodendron, it looks like a nice bush to add...since we have so much room... Any other ideas?
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It does look like you may have Lobularia maritima/Sweet Allysum as your wildflower on the slope, this can actually be a decent long term groundcover if you trim off the old flowers to refresh it from time to time. It also looks like your slope has quite abit of shrubs planted out which will fill in the areas within the next several years, so you don't actually have large areas that will remain sunny and exposed. Bark mulches such as Shredded Redwood bark that is stringy, and often called "Gorilla Hair Mulch" would work on that slope without washing off if you just want to mulch it. It does look as if the existing shrubs will completely fill in over time on the slope, so any groundcover will be shaded out over time. One of the Lampranthus or Delospermum types of iceplant would work well in this situation, dying off as they get shaded out, and can be bought cheaply from mud flats or cell packs.
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You definitely have a problem. The only thing that will completely stabilize your slope is clump forming grasses - they have roots that go at least 15 feet down, virtually everything else has surface roots. And many clumping grasses will tolerate clay soil and full sun. But they don't give a groomed garden look. They can look neat and tidy but that involves a lot of work on your part, and slopes are hard to work on. If this was my problem I would aim for a wildflower meadow look with plenty of tall grasses to try to keep things stable and I would add in the daylilies, black eyed susans and such to keep something blooming all summer long. I have seen slopes covered in Verbena so some people make that work. It always dies out after a few years in my yard. Some forms of it are amazingly winter hardy and pretty much bloom year round. I have seen slopes covered in blue rug junipers also. I love the easy maintenance but you have to remove every speck of grass or weeds because they can overpower the shrubs and weeding on a steep slope is difficult. Also, any shrub is going to need a lot of watering to get it established and if this summer is a dry one, that will be hard to do. If the clay is holding up and not washing downhill you may not need to worry about erosion control at first. It all depends on just how steep your slope is. If you live in a neighborhood where a wildflower meadow out front won't go over well you could choose one type of plant and cover the entire slope with it. That mass of uniformity will look managed and planned and hopefully solve your problem and depending on what you grow could be virtually maintenance free.
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Comments (1)
Steep slope, sandy soil , part shade - GardenWeb Jul 18, 2012 fast ground cover for steep slope - GardenWeb May 7, 2006 groundcover for steep, very rocky slope? - GardenWeb Jun 2, 2005 More results from forums.gardenweb.com
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Julie
17 years ago
You know- ground cover is another word for invasive, to many that is...
For part sun to shade- Archangle Lambium- Bishops Weed- Lily of the Valley- Violets- Ajuga- All of the above could be used- sprinkle a bit of Alyssum seed inbetween plantings to help this year look fuller- well, for that matter- annual Allysum could be used alone with beautiful and great smelling results... Or for taller plants- spread annual Nicotiana seeds- they will make produce a heavenly scent every evening!
I have found that Pachysandra is slower to establish itself into a rich mat then I ever thought!
I wish you full hillsides.
Julie
meeperx
17 years ago
Oh yeah-bishops weed spreads like crazy. Ostrich ferns would also take over the world if they could.
zenpotter
17 years ago
Oh I know bishops weed is crazy, but if you want to cover a hill with somehting cheap and fast and then in a few years replace it with a garage why not. If you don't want to use something that wants to take over the world don't use it.

I have it in a spot that nothing else would grow and it is growing there.

Pauline
birdwing
Original Author
17 years ago
thanks all for the great info. I've been out this afternoon
weeding/clearing these slopes. each one is about 25x25 feet on both sides of the front steps. I have some ostrich fern and lily of the valley around my yard so i'm going to start moving some on to the hill. I've been trying to turn a blind eye to it but it seems like this garage thing is not the highest priority right now so I've got to do something.

They did have pachysandra on ebay 25 plants for 7.99. Have any of you ever ordered plants off ebay??

I'm also going to start telling everyone I know I'll take any of their invasives off their hands. Believe me nothing could be more invasive than the creeping charlie, dandelions and crabgrass growing there now.

pauline, I appreciate the offer alot! I may take you up on it when I figure out what to do. Actually some neighbors are coming out of the woodwork with all kinds of ideas.

Is bishop's weed sometimes called snow on the mountain? i think that's what my mom calls it.
Julie
17 years ago
Yep it is- I have some you could help yourself to as well- as well as other things for that area-
If you are interested- send me an E-Mail and I will give you my address-
Julie

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