Holy Slopes!

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Permalink Reply by Dave Russell on May 18, 2008 at 1:54pm

Well, there is free ivy-n-vinca available at my house. Give me a call at work -- 236-8973 -- and let me know if you are interested and you can dig until it hurts. It's all nice ivy, too, not just that basic green stuff.

When I planted this ivy, I didn't know that I was going to really get into gardening. I just wanted something to stop the erosion and grow without maintenance. Ivy did all that, but now I have decided I really like gardening and want to reclaim some of this area for planting my new favorite plants -- sedum and so on.

dave

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Permalink Reply by Samantha on May 18, 2008 at 2:48pm

You could grow creeping phlox which flowers quiet nicely or if you want to incorporate something edible there is a cranberry that can be used for ground cover as well. I forgot the name of it but I am sure you could find it online.

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Permalink Reply by GardenThymeGirl on May 18, 2008 at 7:18pm

The first question I would like to ask is "How much sun is this slope receiving?" Vinca placed three feet apart on center will work for both sunny and part sun areas. If this slope is mostly shaded--I would recomend Pachysandra terminalis/Japanese Pachysandra. It has an insignificant white flower in the Spring and has interesting foliage. You will want to plant one plant about 2 - 3 feet apart on center. Each of these plants are great for ground cover because they will spread and form a dense carpet on the slope. I would never put grass on a steep slope that would require mowing because of the risk of getting hurt while mowing.

Attachments:

• Pachysandra Terminalis.jpg, 17 KB
• Bowles variety Vinca.jpg, 836 KB

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Permalink Reply by FlowerPower on May 19, 2008 at 2:24am

If you're looking for something heavy-duty, you could try Cotoneaster.

We built our house on a fairly steep slope and had to carve into the side of the mountain to make a level spot for our kids to play in the backyard. The graders pushed all the dirt down the mountain leaving us with a huge "cliff" of raw, poor quality subsoil and a HUGE erosion problem. A friend, who used to own a nursery, recommended a specific variety of Cotoneaster (At the time, it was a different variety from what was being sold at Lowe's and other garden centers; however, they may carry it now). Ours is a fast growing, mostly evergreen variety, with horizontal spreading branches, small shiny leaves, and tiny white flowers in the spring (they're blooming right now). We ordered 50 rather small quart sized plants and planted them 4 feet apart in August of that year. Without any special attention from us, they took off, and had a pretty good hold on the loose dirt by winter. Within two years, they covered the entire bank. However, there is one disadvantage to consider... they could end up spreading into areas where you don't want them.

We have been very happy with our Cotoneaster and the way it quickly solved our erosion problem. Although, in my opinion, the plants that other forum members have suggested to you so far are more attractive; especially for a front yard.

If you're interested, let me know and I'll dig through our records to see if I can find the name of the variety we planted.

Lisa

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Permalink Reply by Alan on May 20, 2008 at 8:27pm

Full Sun - Juniper or Weeping Love Grass

Juniper is an utilitarian plant that loves dry, hot, full locations. Cotoneaster could be used, but they tend to collect leaves in the fall and those leaves are hard to remove. Weeping Love Grass does keep a short (24-30") height, but does tend to clump and allow gulleys to form between the clumps.

Shade (less than 6 hours a day and no sun from 1PM-4PM) - Ivy is vigorous (read: invasive), Vinca is best for small slopes (purple bloom), Pachysandra only in full shade on a slope (white blooms). Wintercreeper (Euonymus coloratus) could be used, no bloom and more vigorous than vinca or pachysandra.

It sounds like you need to go with juniper.

"If I could develop a plant that could take full sun, some shade, be drought tolerant, low maintenance, bloom all year in a good selection of colors, be evergreen, fast growing but stop at 3 feet, I would be a millionaire many times over. Plants take work, don't let the buzz words trick you."

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Permalink Reply by Doug on May 30, 2008 at 9:06am

I'd like to thank everyone for their suggestions on this issue, as Jim is not the only one with slope issues (Doug raises his hand). These are great ideas, and I can use them when l tackle the slope in my back yard later this summer/fall. Although I'm not sure slope is the right word. Steep bank? Almost too steep to walk down and need a rope on the lawn mower to cut the green vegetable matter that is growing there now steep?

Anyway, I had some of the vince (although I called it periwinkle) in my yard in Raleigh before I moved here. I might give that a try. This is a very helpful group. Thanks again.

Doug

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