Sorry, I was being tongue in cheek about the shoe spikes. I'm complaining that its much harder to navigate the hill than it used to be. The similarly steep slope on the south side was planted (by developer) with 3 rows of white pines after grass had been laid down. They seem to be doing fine after 4 years. But I don't want to hide my view in front with tall trees or go the monoculture route. I read the following on a native CA plant nursery site (link provided) when researching about planting slopes. Why wouldn't it be the same for Maryland native plants? (They really think grass is a bad idea to use on slopes. I am seeing areas of erosion on my grassy slopes.) "A mixture of deep-rooted [California ] native shrubs, and trees, mixed with shallow-rooted shrubs, and perennials, mulched and with no weeds, will control erosion on the slope. Why should you plant a [California] native plant community on the slope and not grass or ice plant! Because the native plants connect with each other underground, and the microorganisms that live in association with them produce tiny threads that ramify through the soil, coiling around particles of sand and clay and holding them, and also producing glue-like compounds to hold the soil particles. This interconnection, I guess you could think of it as a natural microorganism community underground living in cooperation with the plant community aboveground, which the grass and iceplant, and other alien plants do not possess, is why it is critical to plant [California] native plants in a spaced plant community to control erosion on a slope. From the San Dimas Research Experiment of erosion and hillside runoff. "The concept that surface runoff is rare on any undisturbed watershed...has become accepted among forest hydrologists and seems equally to apply on the San Dimas experimental Forest." (Patric) If the hillside has native plants covering it, there was no runoff and the soil slowly released the water over the season. A trace of runoff from native plant covered slopes. Grass covered slopes lead to hillside erosion and possible landslides. 30-75% of all rainfall on grass- covered slopes ran off. The native plant -covered slopes also stayed drier in winter. Weedy or grass cover slopes get very wet very fast and either shed water or slide mud. Iceplant, Vinca, Ivy fits the weedy role, not the native role. So bare soil or grass (or straw) -covered slopes experience boundless erosion through mudslides (wet slopes) and surface gullies when compared to the "beggarly erosion of slopes planted in a community of native plants". Here is a link that might be useful: How to landscape a hillside slope

Well, I tell ya, I got a whole lotta ground to cover!!! I have TONS to plant down there, like 70 things, some shrubs and mostly perenials. But today they are putting the irrigation back and making it better at the same time so with no fighting the deer, and having it watered by some timed, and some pressure fed sprinklers, AND two hose bibs on either side of down below(just past the fruit trees) I'll be right on track!!! The slopes are still quite steep, but I plan to rake and shovel them to be a bit more tiered. Did I mention this is 130ft downhill and 60 wide???!!! I still have to haul all my plants down there, dig the holes, bring all my brick and rocks in....WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!LOL!!!

You are seriously limiting your choices if you insist on natives. If you can drop that stipulation, there are dozens of good selections. As long as the ones you choose are not invasive in your area, I see no reason not to expand your palette. (Just my two cents worth.) BTW, I hail from Kingsport, Tn., so am somewhat familiar with your climate. Good ones I have grown here in Mississippi: purple muhly grass (muhlenbergia): This is my favorite for beauty, easy care, long season of interest, and ease of maintenance). When it blooms in the fall it will stop traffic, literally. Miscanthus varieties: Gracillimus, Morning Light, Rigoletto, and Adagio are all beautiful and low maintenance. They get pretty big. Their one fault is their need for division every few years. Since their root balls are massive, division is an extremely strenuous task. Still, they are unsurpassed for beauty, IMO. They can be expensive, but if you buy just one pot and divide it into equal parts, even small parts, they grow so quickly that you'll have all you want in very short order. Mexican Feather Grass: a truly lovely graceful small grass. It doesn't love my humidity or my irrigation system, but I would imagine it would do fine where you are if it is winter hardy. Calamagrostis is also a lovely grass. I have Overdam, which is a variegated one. In my climate it needs some shade, but I bet it would love your area.

I posted an entire post and it got deleted. ughhh so sorry. Im going to finish the above product so as not to waste . it has an attached spray wand. I did see someone mention throw some dawn detergent in. Ironically last spring I even made my own pinterest concoction of Dawn dish soap, vinegar and Epson salts. Easy peasy. worked great on weeds grass and managed to kill the PI in the sunlight as got fried. anyway to answer the question I used the above product numerous times and wacked bottom of trees vine in a few areas. Sprayed the crap out of it and all the overhead baby leaves I could reach and see being careful not to get it all over me. I was covered in PPE and tried my best to get each and every vine peeking from ground. I will do it again today as no rain expected. any other tips I truly do appreciate it as if youve been successfull killing this monster pleaseeeeee share your tips. Id never judge as obviously I am not doing it as well as I could. No need to argue on the post as that was not my intention for anyone. I sincerely appreciate your time and honest opinions. Here is an oval I considered just doing some base plants to liven it up and could leave rest of hill alone as I tend to the PI. a couple bags of mulch and a couple shrubs or perennials here could be answer???? Im sorta sad that I jumped the gun and got these $7 cypress plants at walmart and now wondering maybe they will get to tall for even the crevice of hillside ...or I could just keep them cut squatty in width. I love them but grrrrrrr right area? I worry about the salt truck killing everything lively down there in winter too so don't want to dump a lot of money in it. I also worry about someone stealing a wonderful planter on my mound sad as it is to say. I may get my hubs to make a rustic box for area fill it and if someone steals oh well.