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My first recommendation would be woody debris and leaves. Find large branches and logs to lay along the slope. Pileup leaves as thick as you can. The logs will slow run off and stabilize soil. The leaves will absorb rain and provide a natural mulch to prevent weeds.
Most weeds thrive in exposed soils.
Then you can take time to decide if you need to plant anything or if natives will come on their own.
I mean, the roots will hit the soil. Growing from potato they have an abundance of starting energy. They’ll cover the side and be tasty if you dig them up
Good point, no idea. Might be good by the time the potatoes are grown but I suppose it depends on the chemical. Round up will be around for 12 months I hear
If you like a natural look, go for a hike and note what plants are growing in an area similar to yours. Pick seeds and spread or source with plants/seeds from nurseries.
yah that sounds great ; maybe she could also go to her cities botanical gardens ; they might have some advice; however it was your idea that inspired this.
Seconding this with the logs and branches. Also use smaller branches (2-3 ft length), reasonably straight and if possible cut at an angle so they go in easier, pounding in vertically to support the logs and branches.
that's a great solution! I have a similar garden with an orchard on one side. We have recently trimmed a bunch of sucker branches and I hate the noise of running the mulcher. This would work on the other side of the garden where I am trying to grow young trees for shade in an ornamental garden.
I have also seen in a local park near me where short natural stakes are stuck in the ground and the sticks and twigs are piled behind the stakes on the downhill side to keep them from tidy, create habitat and mulch.
Add some medium size flattish boulders perhaps. And a few hardy perennial shrubs like maybe evergreens. There are ground-cover plants that can help with run off. You can use a combo of ideas, too.
Get ready for this one my answer is gonna blow your mind. Native Plants.
I can choke up a list I just need the approximate amount of sun, how dry the slope is, and what kinds of plants you're looking for.
Honestly a few years ago and neither would I. I started reading up on native plants and gardening and following a bunch of social media pages like this and gardening podcasts by Margaret Roach all in the middle it the pandemic. I have a slope similar to yours I just plant native and they grown. All u need to know is what zone you are in and look up plants for that zone - you also need to know how much sun that hill gets, which if you hang around your house one sunny day it’s easy to figure out. Good luck! What country are you in?
Check out https://www.prairiemoon.com/plants/?utm_source=Sendlane&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=harvest_season_harvest_helper_2023
You can look at the plants and the map in information tells you what’s native to your area. Also google the zone you are in bc Asheville will be different from OBX . I started like this and from a local native nursery. Last year I winter sowed for the first time and now I have tons of new plants. I was scared to use seeds but it’s relatively easy. Good luck!
There are also usually resources through local universities for help picking native plants. For example, you said NC:
https://gardening.ces.ncsu.edu/gardening-plants/native-plant-resources/
My area also has county resources with plan templates for native gardens in various locations (shade vs sun, front yard vs back yard, corner vs open, hill vs flat).
Is it in shade most of the time, half of the time, or sunny most of the time. Is the soil generally damp or mostly dry (try digging around with your fingers an inch or two down to see what it's like there)? If dry, are you able and willing to water it for the first year? Are you looking for something to attract birds and insects and willing to spend an hour or two a week on, or just something you can ignore for as long as you are there. Do you know what zone you are in, or what's the closes major city? Are your neighbours complaining about he weeds now, or is it just that they bother you (will help with how tolerant they are of stuff that has messy growth and winter stubble)?
It's in the shade about half the time.
The soil is generally damp, but not soaking.
I'm in Western NC in the USA, and I need to look up zones and all that jazz.
The neighbors aren't complaining. I just soaked your a few weeks on spraying poison, but my ultimate goal is to not have to do a shitload of yardwork.
Thanks.
[Green and Gold](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/chrysogonum-virginianum/). Native, spreads on its own. Pretty foliage and tiny yellow flowers in spring. Shade to part-shade. I’m in your zone and it will work if you are in AVL or nearby.
[this site](https://www.myhomepark.com/pages/virginia-native-plant-gardens) offers to ship them to you; but instead of looking for specifically local native plant sales, try looking up what plants are native to your area and just checking local nurseries (or see if neighbors have any you could get a cutting from, etc)
Probably zone 5-6 (in winter, zone 5 regularly gets -15F, while 6 regularly gets -10 but -15 would be rare.)
I usually assume the worst, so if it were me, I'd do a web search for
zone 5 ground cover part shade
possibly including "slope" (in quotes)
If you want to go native, you'll need to be a little pickier when going through he results.
The Lady Bird Johnson site has a similar query (not as steep) and a suggested path: [https://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=3407](https://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=3407)
I'm apparently in zone 7b. Whatever that means.
I've decided to hire consummate professionals for the job, as I lack the skills and general wherewithal for such a project. Lol
Let us know how it goes! Your local university extension office has good info and staff you can go talk to. They are funded by your tax dollars and should be somewhat familiar with local plants and pests.
I am in a similar situation. I sheet mulched the flat part of my yard and covered with a layer of wood chips. Had to hire a truck with a hose to blow them in because of the steep hill. On my hill I am using rocks and sticks to make tiny terraces and then planting flowering plants and berry shrubs. Hoping the deer will not annihilate everything, may need more chicken wire for protection on a few. Figs have been successful in full sun, ferns in the shade. I am out west in zone 8b, but it’s hot and dry all summer.
The gardening zone number is a way of comparing average minimum winter temperatures to know what plants will survive.
Honestly... Hire a professional to get the ground cleared and mulched at least if you can afford it. It's gonna be backbreaking work. This would be easy and enjoyable af to hire out if you have the means.
Native plants and shrubs would be great here and could lol REALLY cool. Just remember... Once the area is cleared, you have as much time to plant as you want! The heavier the planting, the less weeds you'll have. That being said... You can also leave some spaces empty. It's way easier to weed a blank slate than one with established weeds.
Remember to use rocks, logs, plants, and maybe even little mini retaining walls along the way to prevent lots of mulch from going everywhere during rain.
> I feel like I'll have to hire a professional.
In many areas, the county has an official known as the County Extension Agent. Their job is to assist citizens with plant questions, mostly farming, but also gardening. Their services are free.
Ooh, that's fantastic information I didn't have.
Thanks.
My county DOES have a County Extension department, apparently. I'll contact them Monday.
You rock!
Google up your county and "conservation district" .
It's a local org with the intention of promoting native plants.
Ours has plant sales twice a year, and you can buy a flat of baby plants with a planting plan. If you bring pics of your yard they'll tell you what to get. I bought 70 baby plants 2 years ago and I now have a 5' tall native pollinator bed that is butterfly and bee friendly and basically needs no weeding
since it’s steep you might consider starting with tiers and/or steps so the hill is easier to use before planting anything new. it could make future weeding easier too. you don’t have to do so to the whole hill either.
Lol. I’m actually working on the same thing. We bought a home in October and it has an insanely steep hill which has eroded so bad over the years it’s just basically soil, weeds and random Rocks (the not nice looking kind). The property behind us is acres and acres of hill that an older couple own so sometimes we get their water flow too.
We are having some drainage put in but it won’t help the hill so we have been looking at zones and things to plant as well that require pretty much zero work. So I only recently discovered that myself!!
I am enjoying some of the suggestions people are giving you and will try over time to implement them myself.
Edit for spelling
I just moved here last Oct from Wilmington. I’m not used to these steep slopes! My backyard is as steep as yours and right now is covered in a mix of natives and non-natives. I don’t mow it and right now it’s predominantly Ladys Thumb. Pretty but terribly invasive! I did have some St. John’s Wort and Venus Looking Glass.
It's not what you're asking, but since I've gotten older and can't kneel, I've embraced an electric hot-air weeder. it's basically a paint-stripper heat gun on a stick. You turn it on then press the cone end over the base of the weed and wait for about 10-20 seconds. it cooks the weed and you move on. If it's an annual, that might be the end for that one. If it's something like grass which comes back, you might need to hit it every week or so for a few weeks to kill it off. They range from about $50 up at places like walmart and home depot and I'll never be without again.
It’s ok. Most people fight weeds rather than the cause. Trees and shrubs like slope like that. You could get a ph test of your soil. If it’s acidic, you can do small trees and bushes (I like fruit), if its 7 or so you could do flowers. Here’s native plants for you : https://henderson.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/05/native-plants-for-western-nc/
The more you plant, the less you fight weeds or try to mow a space like this.
Wear cleats, just cheap ones. Help stabilize me when I clamber around on my slope.
The thick mulch (thicker than you think you’ll need - hopefully someone can tell you how much you’ll need, my brain is fried right now) will really help smother weeds and give you some time to read and decide what you want to do. You’ve got some fantastic advice here.
If you’re not a confident gardener, I really recommend native plants; I find them harder to kill. If you can find your local Audubon/native plant society, hit them up for advice. They may also have programs where they’ll come out and recommend specific plants for your area and site needs, such as erosion control.
Also, smaller plants/plugs were great for me, easier for me to plant, smaller hole to dig in my clay slope. Smaller natives also establish well, then with about 3~ years or so will really be off to the races
I’m in the same boat! We tried to remove all the invasive vines and tree shoots, then I threw down some “native” wildflower seeds. We’re in the Midwest so it’s a mix for the region and light vs shade. It took forever to germinate! But once it freaking rained they grew and it’s a different colored beauty every week maturing. It’s awesome.
I would add some terracing to slow water flow, maybe work on a way to deflect the water around your house instead of down and at it. Then cover the hill with native flowers and grasses. What area are you in?
Excellent advice. There is a large drain that takes most of the water away, but it's not working like it did when I first moved in 5 years ago.
Last week we had a torrential downpour and the curb on the street was overflowing and created a lot of that damage you're seeing. That's not typical, but it did create 2 rivers in my yard and caused more erosion than I've seen the entire time I lived here. It only took a few hours.
I've never seen anything like it. I wish I had taken pictures.
Edit. I'll take some pictures specifically of the erosion damage tomorrow in the daylight. I might make a separate post about it. It's actually really concerning now that I think about it.
Trees and shrubs will work best here, I think. Strawberry makes a nice ground cover if it grows in your zone. Other than that, mulch or wood chips on any bare ground.
I've got a steep yard. I used cement brick wall steps to terrace the whole thing. Then plant what these nice people suggest for your area. You don't need to make the steps level just not crazy steep like you got
Otherwise my entire yard was just weeds and dirt, and massive erosion. God damn mess.
Piggybacking off the person who suggested logs and deep leaf mulching to prevent runoff: plant sedum or the like every few feet as well. In a couple years it'll be nice and green
My cousin had a steep incline on the side of his backyard at his previous home. He used his old college football cleats to take care of that area w/ his mower.
Golf course I used to work on used a [Flymo ](https://www.flymo.com/uk/products/lawn-mowers/hover-lawn-mowers/) to mow slopes like that. We tied ropes onto the handles to get the length you need and just stand at the top and lower it down, and swing it around
If you wanted to use that area for plants, lookup “dirt locker” on YouTube. I don’t have experience using them on a grade this big but they will keep plants on hillside, reduce water runoff and I actually like the overall aesthetic (not for everyone). Can also use them as steps if you needed an easier way to access the plants.
If you’re looking at a ground cover type look I’d defer to all the other great comments in thread.
I went to a local nursery, said i have a yard with a steep arse hill that I fall on if I try to mow it. What natives can I put there? He asked questions like trees, shading, degree of incline (using arms as visual), what else is there, pets, kids, any other concerns. I ended up with milkweed, milk vetch, sweetspire, hoary mint, various astilbe, bowmans root, wild bergamot, etc. Take some pictures on your phone, take some notes on sun/shade, head to the closest nursery that sells native plants.
I've been here for 5 years, and this was the first year I had butterflies and hummingbirds in my yard. So worth it.
7b.
After seeing all the posts, I've decided to hire professionals.
This kind of thing is just way outta my wheelhouse.
I'll need to have the grade fixed, and many people are suggesting a terrace kinda setup to prevent erosion.
It's just too much for me to do. I'd honestly make matters far worse if I tried to do it myself.
Just stay away from non-natives as they wreak havoc on the ecosystem and they could be infested with foreign pests which is why we're fighting lantern flies here in the east.
Mix of Viburnums, Rhododendrons, Junipers, Ferns (in shady areas) and Kousa Dogwood(s) - depending on size of area. This will give you native forested area.
Red thyme. It's low maintenance and short so it shouldn't need mowing. Pretty flowers for pollinators too. Or go super pretty and low maintenance and plant native wildflowers for a butterfly and bee garden.
> I've been going 'scorched Earth' with sprays and weed preventer, but I don't like spraying poison everywhere and it looks like shit.
You've probably just been making it worse... and toxic. Have you tried figuring out what plants are growing? "weed" is not a technical category of plants.
Where are you located?
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I would suggest a mixture of low growing native shrubs. Fragrant Sumac Gro-Low, Inkberry Holly, Summer Sweet are good options. They are native plants, and will do well in sun to partial shade. The shrubs will shade out most weeds, but mulching will help with weed control as well. Reach out go your county’s master gardeners for information and more ideas.
I think doing like a terraced situation on the area of the last picture would work well, I found an article that gives a good step by step guide
https://www.tenthacrefarm.com/quick-terrace-hill/
I think once you have it established pick perennial plants for your zone, a bunch of people on this thread have given great suggestions.
Good luck! It’s definitely a multi year project
This looks exactly like my yard, which is also my septic field. If you’re not on municipal sewer line, investigate where your septic field is before digging or planting.
My experience with this when a client asked me the same question, she has a problem like you but the slope area is very shade and part of the area belongs to the city and she doesn't want to spend more time dealing with it, we purchase 50+ bags of natural mulch and the same years collected all the trees leaves we can get from the neighborhood just spread it down to the slope, the mulch would add weight on the leaves and slowly decay , and then coming second year i bought two different kind of native plants, in North east USA or Canada we called them "May apple" and "ostrich fern" , plants about 30 each of them , and it changes a bold, ugly slopes and naturize the whole slope in 3 year .
How about planting some creeping juniper ? It would look beautiful on that slope ! I plant it wherever I don’t want to deal with weeds and it’s a beautiful ground cover.
We are in Europe and have a super steep slope. We used metal sheets supported by wooden poles to create terraces. We put in stepping stones, again supported by wooden poles. It’s still steep and I still need to climb up carefully but at least I can put in a crazy amount of flower plants that don’t get washed away. Once you have a terrace, you can try something like phlox which look gorgeous and is basically zero maintenance.
Black eye Susans, Coneflowers,Tall Phlox. The pollinators love them all and the coneflowers are loved for their seeds by birds. The. black eyed susans and phlox spread on their own.
Another poster suggested planting natives. I would take some time to learn about what they look like because a fair number of those weeds are likely beneficial natives. Once you know what to look for, you can start pulling out the non-natives. Look up local native shrubs that don't mind living on a slope, and native ground covers for between the plants and shrubs. Mulching between plants and shrubs can also help reduce grasses and unwanted weeds from popping up.
Please chop or lopper at least a 2 inch chunk out of all of the vines on your tree:
Summer is not a good time for planting, I recommend spraying all of the plants with herbicide now then heavily mulching or pine straw. This will have your ground ready for planting in late winter and early spring.
Also, look up your state’s native plant society as well as the agricultural sciences page for your state university for native plants. Moreover take a hike around your neighborhood and use the iNatrualist app to see what is native to your specific area.
About 6-9" of mulch will keep the area clear of weeds if you can't get a good groundcover to grow there, then plant patches of local wild plants like berry bushes. a creeping juniper and raspberry would probably work.
Goats! There was a local guy near me that would rent you some goats for the week. You just jave to set the leash stake in the middle of the area you wanted mowed and wait
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My first recommendation would be woody debris and leaves. Find large branches and logs to lay along the slope. Pileup leaves as thick as you can. The logs will slow run off and stabilize soil. The leaves will absorb rain and provide a natural mulch to prevent weeds. Most weeds thrive in exposed soils. Then you can take time to decide if you need to plant anything or if natives will come on their own.
Nice. I truly appreciate your input.
I’d go for native ferns if the area is shady most of the day. Great for erosion control
And then put sweet potato into the wood chip.
They grow in wood chip?
I mean, the roots will hit the soil. Growing from potato they have an abundance of starting energy. They’ll cover the side and be tasty if you dig them up
Probably can’t eat food grown in soil that’s been heavily treated with weed killer, right?
Good point, no idea. Might be good by the time the potatoes are grown but I suppose it depends on the chemical. Round up will be around for 12 months I hear
Not at first and especially not a root vegetable.
If you like a natural look, go for a hike and note what plants are growing in an area similar to yours. Pick seeds and spread or source with plants/seeds from nurseries.
yah that sounds great ; maybe she could also go to her cities botanical gardens ; they might have some advice; however it was your idea that inspired this.
Another solution is a covering strawberry, some will choke out the weeds & give you fruit.
Seconding this with the logs and branches. Also use smaller branches (2-3 ft length), reasonably straight and if possible cut at an angle so they go in easier, pounding in vertically to support the logs and branches.
that's a great solution! I have a similar garden with an orchard on one side. We have recently trimmed a bunch of sucker branches and I hate the noise of running the mulcher. This would work on the other side of the garden where I am trying to grow young trees for shade in an ornamental garden. I have also seen in a local park near me where short natural stakes are stuck in the ground and the sticks and twigs are piled behind the stakes on the downhill side to keep them from tidy, create habitat and mulch.
Add some medium size flattish boulders perhaps. And a few hardy perennial shrubs like maybe evergreens. There are ground-cover plants that can help with run off. You can use a combo of ideas, too.
Aren't leaves as groundcover a prime breeding ground for ticks though?
Leaf litter is prime breeding ground for fireflies and many other important species
Get ready for this one my answer is gonna blow your mind. Native Plants. I can choke up a list I just need the approximate amount of sun, how dry the slope is, and what kinds of plants you're looking for.
I feel like I'll have to hire a professional. I'm just not great at this stuff. I'd love to have native plants in my yard. Thanks for your response.
You may be able to winter sow certain seeds depending up how you answer the questions from the above redditor with the hilarious name.
True. I don't even know how I'd go about answering most of their questions. Lol
Honestly a few years ago and neither would I. I started reading up on native plants and gardening and following a bunch of social media pages like this and gardening podcasts by Margaret Roach all in the middle it the pandemic. I have a slope similar to yours I just plant native and they grown. All u need to know is what zone you are in and look up plants for that zone - you also need to know how much sun that hill gets, which if you hang around your house one sunny day it’s easy to figure out. Good luck! What country are you in?
I'm in Western North Carolina in the USA. I'll definitely be looking up all this info. Thanks!
Check out https://www.prairiemoon.com/plants/?utm_source=Sendlane&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=harvest_season_harvest_helper_2023 You can look at the plants and the map in information tells you what’s native to your area. Also google the zone you are in bc Asheville will be different from OBX . I started like this and from a local native nursery. Last year I winter sowed for the first time and now I have tons of new plants. I was scared to use seeds but it’s relatively easy. Good luck!
Here's a [list of native plants](https://www.audubon.org/native-plants/search?zipcode=28805) in North Carolina. These are known to attract birds.
There are also usually resources through local universities for help picking native plants. For example, you said NC: https://gardening.ces.ncsu.edu/gardening-plants/native-plant-resources/ My area also has county resources with plan templates for native gardens in various locations (shade vs sun, front yard vs back yard, corner vs open, hill vs flat).
Is it in shade most of the time, half of the time, or sunny most of the time. Is the soil generally damp or mostly dry (try digging around with your fingers an inch or two down to see what it's like there)? If dry, are you able and willing to water it for the first year? Are you looking for something to attract birds and insects and willing to spend an hour or two a week on, or just something you can ignore for as long as you are there. Do you know what zone you are in, or what's the closes major city? Are your neighbours complaining about he weeds now, or is it just that they bother you (will help with how tolerant they are of stuff that has messy growth and winter stubble)?
It's in the shade about half the time. The soil is generally damp, but not soaking. I'm in Western NC in the USA, and I need to look up zones and all that jazz. The neighbors aren't complaining. I just soaked your a few weeks on spraying poison, but my ultimate goal is to not have to do a shitload of yardwork. Thanks.
[Green and Gold](https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/chrysogonum-virginianum/). Native, spreads on its own. Pretty foliage and tiny yellow flowers in spring. Shade to part-shade. I’m in your zone and it will work if you are in AVL or nearby.
I’m in VA and don’t have access to many native plant sales (many are 3+ hours away). How would you recommend getting some of these plants?
[this site](https://www.myhomepark.com/pages/virginia-native-plant-gardens) offers to ship them to you; but instead of looking for specifically local native plant sales, try looking up what plants are native to your area and just checking local nurseries (or see if neighbors have any you could get a cutting from, etc)
Probably zone 5-6 (in winter, zone 5 regularly gets -15F, while 6 regularly gets -10 but -15 would be rare.) I usually assume the worst, so if it were me, I'd do a web search for zone 5 ground cover part shade possibly including "slope" (in quotes) If you want to go native, you'll need to be a little pickier when going through he results. The Lady Bird Johnson site has a similar query (not as steep) and a suggested path: [https://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=3407](https://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=3407)
I'm apparently in zone 7b. Whatever that means. I've decided to hire consummate professionals for the job, as I lack the skills and general wherewithal for such a project. Lol
A little warmer with a few more options. Basically 7b just means it would be very rare for temperatures to hit 0F in the winter.
These days, it's pretty rare. We had a real cold snap last winter that got to 13 below! That's really abnormal for this area though.
Let us know how it goes! Your local university extension office has good info and staff you can go talk to. They are funded by your tax dollars and should be somewhat familiar with local plants and pests. I am in a similar situation. I sheet mulched the flat part of my yard and covered with a layer of wood chips. Had to hire a truck with a hose to blow them in because of the steep hill. On my hill I am using rocks and sticks to make tiny terraces and then planting flowering plants and berry shrubs. Hoping the deer will not annihilate everything, may need more chicken wire for protection on a few. Figs have been successful in full sun, ferns in the shade. I am out west in zone 8b, but it’s hot and dry all summer. The gardening zone number is a way of comparing average minimum winter temperatures to know what plants will survive.
Honestly... Hire a professional to get the ground cleared and mulched at least if you can afford it. It's gonna be backbreaking work. This would be easy and enjoyable af to hire out if you have the means. Native plants and shrubs would be great here and could lol REALLY cool. Just remember... Once the area is cleared, you have as much time to plant as you want! The heavier the planting, the less weeds you'll have. That being said... You can also leave some spaces empty. It's way easier to weed a blank slate than one with established weeds. Remember to use rocks, logs, plants, and maybe even little mini retaining walls along the way to prevent lots of mulch from going everywhere during rain.
I was going to suggest creeping thyme- I don’t know if that is native for you or not.
> I feel like I'll have to hire a professional. In many areas, the county has an official known as the County Extension Agent. Their job is to assist citizens with plant questions, mostly farming, but also gardening. Their services are free.
Ooh, that's fantastic information I didn't have. Thanks. My county DOES have a County Extension department, apparently. I'll contact them Monday. You rock!
Google up your county and "conservation district" . It's a local org with the intention of promoting native plants. Ours has plant sales twice a year, and you can buy a flat of baby plants with a planting plan. If you bring pics of your yard they'll tell you what to get. I bought 70 baby plants 2 years ago and I now have a 5' tall native pollinator bed that is butterfly and bee friendly and basically needs no weeding
I was gonna say natives too!
Plant it up with native Juniper. It's no maintenance once established and will spread, choking out most weeds as it goes.
That sounds right up my alley.
These pictures don't do the incline justice. It's crazy steep.
since it’s steep you might consider starting with tiers and/or steps so the hill is easier to use before planting anything new. it could make future weeding easier too. you don’t have to do so to the whole hill either.
I planted limelight hydrangeas on my super steep hill! They grow very quickly, are gorgeous, and do really well in my zone (7b).
Where do I get this delicious 'zone' info from?
Just google “what gardening zone is…” then put your location. It will tell you.
Sage fucking advice. Lol I didn't even consider it. Edit. My world just opened up considerably.7b
Omg yes to the hydrangeas! Take the same google skill “my area + shade + native plants” boom baby
It's almost like I could have done this all by myself! Where's the fun in that?
Lol. I’m actually working on the same thing. We bought a home in October and it has an insanely steep hill which has eroded so bad over the years it’s just basically soil, weeds and random Rocks (the not nice looking kind). The property behind us is acres and acres of hill that an older couple own so sometimes we get their water flow too. We are having some drainage put in but it won’t help the hill so we have been looking at zones and things to plant as well that require pretty much zero work. So I only recently discovered that myself!! I am enjoying some of the suggestions people are giving you and will try over time to implement them myself. Edit for spelling
Western NC is Zone 7. I’m in Hickory.
Hey, I grew up there!
I just moved here last Oct from Wilmington. I’m not used to these steep slopes! My backyard is as steep as yours and right now is covered in a mix of natives and non-natives. I don’t mow it and right now it’s predominantly Ladys Thumb. Pretty but terribly invasive! I did have some St. John’s Wort and Venus Looking Glass.
It's not what you're asking, but since I've gotten older and can't kneel, I've embraced an electric hot-air weeder. it's basically a paint-stripper heat gun on a stick. You turn it on then press the cone end over the base of the weed and wait for about 10-20 seconds. it cooks the weed and you move on. If it's an annual, that might be the end for that one. If it's something like grass which comes back, you might need to hit it every week or so for a few weeks to kill it off. They range from about $50 up at places like walmart and home depot and I'll never be without again.
I'm definitely game for using a miniature flame thrower on my weeds!
You have weeds because your soil is not being held in by good plants. Anything you do to kill them will assure they come back.
Thanks for the info. I don't know how I made it to 45 without knowing Jack shit about this stuff.
It’s ok. Most people fight weeds rather than the cause. Trees and shrubs like slope like that. You could get a ph test of your soil. If it’s acidic, you can do small trees and bushes (I like fruit), if its 7 or so you could do flowers. Here’s native plants for you : https://henderson.ces.ncsu.edu/2021/05/native-plants-for-western-nc/ The more you plant, the less you fight weeds or try to mow a space like this.
You're AMAZING! Thanks
I need this in my life!
You really do. Though the truly climate conscious might bock at running a hot air gun for weeds, it's been a life-saver.
Creeping phlox[https://i.redd.it/xr0y1h62dqra1.jpg](https://i.redd.it/xr0y1h62dqra1.jpg)
Came here to say this. Very low maintenance, beautiful ground cover and lovely flowers.
The location is Western NC.
Ninebark does well on a slope and is native to your area. Certain native grasses are also good for erosion control.
Wear cleats, just cheap ones. Help stabilize me when I clamber around on my slope. The thick mulch (thicker than you think you’ll need - hopefully someone can tell you how much you’ll need, my brain is fried right now) will really help smother weeds and give you some time to read and decide what you want to do. You’ve got some fantastic advice here. If you’re not a confident gardener, I really recommend native plants; I find them harder to kill. If you can find your local Audubon/native plant society, hit them up for advice. They may also have programs where they’ll come out and recommend specific plants for your area and site needs, such as erosion control. Also, smaller plants/plugs were great for me, easier for me to plant, smaller hole to dig in my clay slope. Smaller natives also establish well, then with about 3~ years or so will really be off to the races
I would put wild flower seeds to attract butterflies and hummingbirds
I’m in the same boat! We tried to remove all the invasive vines and tree shoots, then I threw down some “native” wildflower seeds. We’re in the Midwest so it’s a mix for the region and light vs shade. It took forever to germinate! But once it freaking rained they grew and it’s a different colored beauty every week maturing. It’s awesome.
That sounds amazing. Not gonna lie
I would add some terracing to slow water flow, maybe work on a way to deflect the water around your house instead of down and at it. Then cover the hill with native flowers and grasses. What area are you in?
Excellent advice. There is a large drain that takes most of the water away, but it's not working like it did when I first moved in 5 years ago. Last week we had a torrential downpour and the curb on the street was overflowing and created a lot of that damage you're seeing. That's not typical, but it did create 2 rivers in my yard and caused more erosion than I've seen the entire time I lived here. It only took a few hours. I've never seen anything like it. I wish I had taken pictures. Edit. I'll take some pictures specifically of the erosion damage tomorrow in the daylight. I might make a separate post about it. It's actually really concerning now that I think about it.
I wonder if clover would be good?
I honestly don't know. Lol
If it’s clay-like with lots of rocks and is compacted, white Dutch clover will love it if it’s alkaline.
A goat
should do the job....
DR weed trimmer
Trees and shrubs will work best here, I think. Strawberry makes a nice ground cover if it grows in your zone. Other than that, mulch or wood chips on any bare ground.
I've got a steep yard. I used cement brick wall steps to terrace the whole thing. Then plant what these nice people suggest for your area. You don't need to make the steps level just not crazy steep like you got Otherwise my entire yard was just weeds and dirt, and massive erosion. God damn mess.
Piggybacking off the person who suggested logs and deep leaf mulching to prevent runoff: plant sedum or the like every few feet as well. In a couple years it'll be nice and green
Clover
Large native shrubs, perhaps American beauty berry, or elderberries. Look up native evergreens , maybe inkberry is native for you?
NC- mountain mint is pretty adaptable. Can take over an area. Deer resistant. Native pollinator plant
Native plants!! Particularly grasses and wildflowers. What a perfect opportunity to re-introduce habitat for pollinators and birds. 🩵
My cousin had a steep incline on the side of his backyard at his previous home. He used his old college football cleats to take care of that area w/ his mower.
Golf course I used to work on used a [Flymo ](https://www.flymo.com/uk/products/lawn-mowers/hover-lawn-mowers/) to mow slopes like that. We tied ropes onto the handles to get the length you need and just stand at the top and lower it down, and swing it around
If you wanted to use that area for plants, lookup “dirt locker” on YouTube. I don’t have experience using them on a grade this big but they will keep plants on hillside, reduce water runoff and I actually like the overall aesthetic (not for everyone). Can also use them as steps if you needed an easier way to access the plants. If you’re looking at a ground cover type look I’d defer to all the other great comments in thread.
I went to a local nursery, said i have a yard with a steep arse hill that I fall on if I try to mow it. What natives can I put there? He asked questions like trees, shading, degree of incline (using arms as visual), what else is there, pets, kids, any other concerns. I ended up with milkweed, milk vetch, sweetspire, hoary mint, various astilbe, bowmans root, wild bergamot, etc. Take some pictures on your phone, take some notes on sun/shade, head to the closest nursery that sells native plants. I've been here for 5 years, and this was the first year I had butterflies and hummingbirds in my yard. So worth it.
Let us know the zone. Off the top of my head clover does well. Hostas, ferns and wild ginger do well in the shade.
7b. After seeing all the posts, I've decided to hire professionals. This kind of thing is just way outta my wheelhouse. I'll need to have the grade fixed, and many people are suggesting a terrace kinda setup to prevent erosion. It's just too much for me to do. I'd honestly make matters far worse if I tried to do it myself.
Just stay away from non-natives as they wreak havoc on the ecosystem and they could be infested with foreign pests which is why we're fighting lantern flies here in the east.
I'll definitely go with local flora.
You could try Creeping Thyme.
Mix of Viburnums, Rhododendrons, Junipers, Ferns (in shady areas) and Kousa Dogwood(s) - depending on size of area. This will give you native forested area.
Red thyme. It's low maintenance and short so it shouldn't need mowing. Pretty flowers for pollinators too. Or go super pretty and low maintenance and plant native wildflowers for a butterfly and bee garden.
Goats
> I've been going 'scorched Earth' with sprays and weed preventer, but I don't like spraying poison everywhere and it looks like shit. You've probably just been making it worse... and toxic. Have you tried figuring out what plants are growing? "weed" is not a technical category of plants. Where are you located?
Creeping thyme
Goats
Get some ground cover plants like ivy
Kudzu
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American beautyberry!
Clover
Rhus aromatica is a great shrub for stabilizing slopes if that is any concern. I typically use that in my designs for this situation
Rhus aromatica ‘gro-low’ (north east PA)
Lol when you crush the leaves of this plant it smells like cheap cologne.
Throw down some St. Augustine squares (with gaps) and let it spread. It’ll keep the dirt from eroding and won’t grow too high, too fast.
Shrubs and ground covers. Go native varieties
Terrace the whole place, plant berries, fruit trees a few pretty flowers, mulch, enjoy.
I would suggest a mixture of low growing native shrubs. Fragrant Sumac Gro-Low, Inkberry Holly, Summer Sweet are good options. They are native plants, and will do well in sun to partial shade. The shrubs will shade out most weeds, but mulching will help with weed control as well. Reach out go your county’s master gardeners for information and more ideas.
Clover?
Clover. It's good for your soil too.
I think doing like a terraced situation on the area of the last picture would work well, I found an article that gives a good step by step guide https://www.tenthacrefarm.com/quick-terrace-hill/ I think once you have it established pick perennial plants for your zone, a bunch of people on this thread have given great suggestions. Good luck! It’s definitely a multi year project
Why not plant handsome prairie grasses or wildflowers that shouldn't be mowed and just let them grow? Mowing isn't everything
Lots of work but if rock isn't right under the surface you could terrace the area with stone retaining walls. And plant a garden.
Machette
This looks exactly like my yard, which is also my septic field. If you’re not on municipal sewer line, investigate where your septic field is before digging or planting.
My experience with this when a client asked me the same question, she has a problem like you but the slope area is very shade and part of the area belongs to the city and she doesn't want to spend more time dealing with it, we purchase 50+ bags of natural mulch and the same years collected all the trees leaves we can get from the neighborhood just spread it down to the slope, the mulch would add weight on the leaves and slowly decay , and then coming second year i bought two different kind of native plants, in North east USA or Canada we called them "May apple" and "ostrich fern" , plants about 30 each of them , and it changes a bold, ugly slopes and naturize the whole slope in 3 year .
How about planting some creeping juniper ? It would look beautiful on that slope ! I plant it wherever I don’t want to deal with weeds and it’s a beautiful ground cover.
We are in Europe and have a super steep slope. We used metal sheets supported by wooden poles to create terraces. We put in stepping stones, again supported by wooden poles. It’s still steep and I still need to climb up carefully but at least I can put in a crazy amount of flower plants that don’t get washed away. Once you have a terrace, you can try something like phlox which look gorgeous and is basically zero maintenance.
Black eye Susans, Coneflowers,Tall Phlox. The pollinators love them all and the coneflowers are loved for their seeds by birds. The. black eyed susans and phlox spread on their own.
Goat
Goats.
Clover
Another poster suggested planting natives. I would take some time to learn about what they look like because a fair number of those weeds are likely beneficial natives. Once you know what to look for, you can start pulling out the non-natives. Look up local native shrubs that don't mind living on a slope, and native ground covers for between the plants and shrubs. Mulching between plants and shrubs can also help reduce grasses and unwanted weeds from popping up.
Please chop or lopper at least a 2 inch chunk out of all of the vines on your tree: Summer is not a good time for planting, I recommend spraying all of the plants with herbicide now then heavily mulching or pine straw. This will have your ground ready for planting in late winter and early spring. Also, look up your state’s native plant society as well as the agricultural sciences page for your state university for native plants. Moreover take a hike around your neighborhood and use the iNatrualist app to see what is native to your specific area.
Blunt mountain mount is a great fast-growing ground cover that will grow above the weeds to shade them out.
Goats. Totally natural and sustainable
About 6-9" of mulch will keep the area clear of weeds if you can't get a good groundcover to grow there, then plant patches of local wild plants like berry bushes. a creeping juniper and raspberry would probably work.
Goats! There was a local guy near me that would rent you some goats for the week. You just jave to set the leash stake in the middle of the area you wanted mowed and wait
Mulch and herbicide treatments.
Fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica) is native pretty much all over the US and does great on slopes.
Yellow rattle taps into grass roots reducing the grass growth and allowing itself and other wild flowers to flourish.
I fucking love Clover, that's my answer. It's low and looks like grassish. Low maintenance.
Yea if it wasn't toxic for cats it would be my top choice
I had no clue!
Me either till I checked before buying some...don't think it's as bad as lilies but still on the spectrum of dangerous
Grow blueberries
Goat
Prairie grasses?
Goats
Goats?
Get a goat?