Based on my experience, I'd not kill the grass. We have fine sandy loam soil and a steep bank (an old river terrace) which we killed the grass on when I planted shrubs. We mulched well. The soil has definitely slumped some - the shrub roots don't seem to be as deep or as tough and binding as the roots of the grass that was there before. We ended up pounding in stakes to use as soil pins and they seem to have helped. Leaving the grass would have been less work. I think if I were to do it again, I'd heavily mulch the area around the shrub to reduce competition and then hope that mowing with a weed whacker as needed would be enough to deep the grass under control. If you have different soil, you might find you have different results.

Rhus copallina 'Prairie Flame' will perform as required in the situation described. It will take time to "fill in" if density is a requirement, but it is not so vigorous a plant as will defy mowing. It is not so vigorous as to prevent other things from growing with it either - so, if you want a "pure stand" you might have to do some weeding or discouragement of other plants volunteering amongst it as it get established. I am quite happy with my stand of 'Prarie Flame', which I have been growing for almost 10 years on extremely poor quality B/C horizon droughty clay soils.

Hi all. Just found the new forum and look forward to learning what everyone else does to handle their hills! I have found that using sections (about 2'pieces) of black plastic edging works pretty well. it forms a temporary retaining wall for the front of most of my average sized plants until they have a chance to dig in. It has a natural curve from being rolled up and I use cedar shims as stakes to keep them at the proper arc. It is very cheap to install quite a few at one time for a large install. it's easy to re-position and lasts for several seasons. I have also stacked two or three pieces on top of each other and secured them with survey stakes (think Buffy the Vampire size wooden stakes!) for a larger tree/shrub installation. Granted, it's not very attractive on a newly planted slope, but the mulch and good topsoil stays where I put it and they are removed after the plant is established. happy holidays becca

You could try seeding with a wildflower mix mixed with sand and just let it go. I use the false strawberry as a living mulch in part of my yard then pull as I put in a plant. I have a problem with my front slope to the road 10 ft tall. I am slowly filling it with plants that need little care but expand by their roots such as peonies, various goldenrods, asters etc. The only problem I am finding is the trees that sprout on the slope. I have slid down the slope several times while cutting them out.