Unless you are opposed for religious reasons, this is exactly the type of situation that roundup was invented for. One sprayed on dose and you can start seeding the next day. IMO, it would be more environmentally friendly than slowly solarizing a big area. You save all the benefitial insects and microbes and you can plant your wildflower crop immediately. The long term impact of a 1 time application of roundup is just about zero. All that plastic you buy to cover that much area will be with us for thousands of years. If you are absolutely opposed to roundup, you might try vinegar on a hot day. It will probably take a couple tries, but it does kill cool season grass.

Hi Scott and Ianna - thanks for your replies. Scott, I practically LIVE on the Grow Native website and have utelized the conservation dept. info at every turn for the last three years. smile. They are really incredible - so lucky!! I am definitely going to use the MO primrose and pussytoes (which I have growing in my prairie field); I already have the rudbekias and echinaceas going in the perennial herb/flower bed on the periphery of this location as well as wild lavender hyssop and some other natives such as tickseed coreopsis and fire pink (catchfly). I'd love to get my hands on some liatris but I think they're difficult from seed and my budjet is busted already! smile. As for the thyme, I've decided against it for a few reasons - mostly the bees (although I'm pretty sure wooly thyme would grow at this site because my creeping thyme near the same area grows gangbusters - and - my drainage here is too darn good). I've settled on arranging some large rocks naturally around my oaks, filling the niches with soil and planting tough but showy specimen plants such as epimediums, hellbores, coreopsis, heuchera and others that look natural and somewhat casual and filling the pathways with something like buffalo grass (not sure on that, might end up being river gravel). Does anyone know if you can grow epimediums from seed???

Sounds like you have a similar situation as PamCrews. She's also trying to plant on a slope by the lake. I wonder what she decided to plant. There are two Sunset Hillside Landscaping books by two different authors. I've seen the one by Susan Lang and it had lots of beautiful photos and ideas in it. It made me wish I had a big hill. There is also one by Hazel White which I haven't seen. The books would help with design and how-to but as for what specific plants to plant, local advice is best. Natives are a good idea as Gldno mentioned. They're better adapted to our climate. Which direction does your slope face and how much sun does it get? I would be tempted to walk or boat around the area and see what other people have done on their slopes that face the same direction so you can see what does and doesn't work. Some of them may irrigate with automatic watering systems. I tried a couple of ground covers but they weren't very drought tolerant and had to be watered regularly in July and August - but I was planting in dappled shade under trees where there was competition from tree roots. I tried a couple times to get ajuga going and it wouldn't live even with my watering. Lamium did great for awhile and spread and then it just disappeared for some reason. Best of luck with your hill. What a beautiful area you are in! Glad you found the Ozarks forum. Please feel welcome to ask more questions. Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset Hillside Landscaping

You do know that clovers are mostly a cool, spring plant and most require considerable moisture to do well. They are also annuals. No one grows it in pastures so I am assuming it doesn't do that well here. We do see lots of just plain red clover but it will last only two years and gets pretty ugly and brown by summer. The clovers will self-seed though. I had one crimson clover plant in a field once and didn't recognize it until I got up close. It was a beautiful color. Native grasses would be a good idea though. I do like your idea of using natives. Ladino clover is more perennial, but I know it needs good moisture and does much better in cooler weather. This has been a very good year for the clovers in the pastures. Have you visitied the GrowNative website? It can give you some excellent advice and ideas. Here is a link that might be useful: Mo Natives