Hi,

I'm trying to get some ground cover on a sunny slope, which usually
gets swallowed by tall grasses in the Spring and Summer. I put
out a bunch of Emerald Gaiety and most of them died after
a year, even though they had decent water. They were going
great and then just vanished.

English Ivy grows thick about 30ft away in a slightly shady
area, so I'm going to put in new Ivy plants [Fall sale at
Lowe's .50 each] and try those.
I've already started some cuttings, but that will
take a little longer. Some of the Lowes plants are Baltic,
some of them are Golden Child. GP says it tolerates full
sun, but doesn't spread as far as Baltic. Weeds are a
huge problem on this hill, so I'm putting little square
cardboard frames around each plant. During Spring,
even with spraying Over the Top, coupled with the
size of the slope, manual
weeding becomes a big challenge. These are small plants,
with a fist sized rootball.

The hole in the cardboard is about 4x6 inches, with
4" of edge on the sides, and 2" on the top/bottom edge.
Hopefully these plants will grow over the cardboard
edge, and then put down feelers/roots and continue.

I'm' also planning to place larger pieces of cardboard
inbetween the plants, using landscape staples, and
after the plants grow over their little cardboard
collar, I can remove/adjust those pieces.
Does this sound like a plan? Asiatic Jasmine is also
on the menu.

itchy

wrote:
Hi,

I'm trying to get some ground cover on a sunny slope, which usually
gets swallowed by tall grasses in the Spring and Summer. I put
out a bunch of Emerald Gaiety and most of them died after
a year, even though they had decent water. They were going
great and then just vanished.

English Ivy grows thick about 30ft away in a slightly shady
area, so I'm going to put in new Ivy plants [Fall sale at
Lowe's .50 each] and try those.
I've already started some cuttings, but that will
take a little longer. Some of the Lowes plants are Baltic,
some of them are Golden Child. GP says it tolerates full
sun, but doesn't spread as far as Baltic. Weeds are a
huge problem on this hill, so I'm putting little square
cardboard frames around each plant. During Spring,
even with spraying Over the Top, coupled with the
size of the slope, manual
weeding becomes a big challenge. These are small plants,
with a fist sized rootball.

The hole in the cardboard is about 4x6 inches, with
4" of edge on the sides, and 2" on the top/bottom edge.
Hopefully these plants will grow over the cardboard
edge, and then put down feelers/roots and continue.

I'm' also planning to place larger pieces of cardboard
inbetween the plants, using landscape staples, and
after the plants grow over their little cardboard
collar, I can remove/adjust those pieces.
Does this sound like a plan? Asiatic Jasmine is also
on the menu.

one reason to use cardboard for smothering weeds is
that it eventually breaks down and turns into worm food.

you will probably find out after a while that the
best plan for a slope is to just trim it once in a
while with something (to keep brush from shading out
the grass). you don't want to remove the grasses
because they are preventing erosion.

that is the least amount of work. trim it once in a
while and otherwise leave it alone. the grasses are
doing what they are supposed to be doing.

if you want to add potted wild flowers to the area
to give it some diversity you can do that but you don't
want to put in ones that will shade the grass out.
poppies, pinks, etc. can do ok.

the decorative grasses i've seen all seem to eventually
turn into invasive messes so i don't use those for
anything.


songbird

On 11/27/2018 8:46 AM, songbird wrote:
wrote:
Hi,

I'm trying to get some ground cover on a sunny slope, which usually
gets swallowed by tall grasses in the Spring and Summer. I put
out a bunch of Emerald Gaiety and most of them died after
a year, even though they had decent water. They were going
great and then just vanished.

English Ivy grows thick about 30ft away in a slightly shady
area, so I'm going to put in new Ivy plants [Fall sale at
Lowe's .50 each] and try those.
I've already started some cuttings, but that will
take a little longer. Some of the Lowes plants are Baltic,
some of them are Golden Child. GP says it tolerates full
sun, but doesn't spread as far as Baltic. Weeds are a
huge problem on this hill, so I'm putting little square
cardboard frames around each plant. During Spring,
even with spraying Over the Top, coupled with the
size of the slope, manual
weeding becomes a big challenge. These are small plants,
with a fist sized rootball.

The hole in the cardboard is about 4x6 inches, with
4" of edge on the sides, and 2" on the top/bottom edge.
Hopefully these plants will grow over the cardboard
edge, and then put down feelers/roots and continue.

I'm' also planning to place larger pieces of cardboard
inbetween the plants, using landscape staples, and
after the plants grow over their little cardboard
collar, I can remove/adjust those pieces.
Does this sound like a plan? Asiatic Jasmine is also
on the menu.

one reason to use cardboard for smothering weeds is
that it eventually breaks down and turns into worm food.

you will probably find out after a while that the
best plan for a slope is to just trim it once in a
while with something (to keep brush from shading out
the grass). you don't want to remove the grasses
because they are preventing erosion.

that is the least amount of work. trim it once in a
while and otherwise leave it alone. the grasses are
doing what they are supposed to be doing.

if you want to add potted wild flowers to the area
to give it some diversity you can do that but you don't
want to put in ones that will shade the grass out.
poppies, pinks, etc. can do ok.

the decorative grasses i've seen all seem to eventually
turn into invasive messes so i don't use those for
anything.


songbird


I had no trouble starting ivy on my slopes but it would not take hold.
I did not find until later that the deer were eating it in the winter.
Pachysandra works well in highly shaded areas for my neighbors but I
have trouble getting it started in partial shade.

Periwinkle and day lilies worked fine on one slope even though deer may
munch the day lilies but now in partial shade other weeds have moved in.

On 11/26/2018 8:09 PM, wrote:
Hi,

I'm trying to get some ground cover on a sunny slope, which usually
gets swallowed by tall grasses in the Spring and Summer. I put
out a bunch of Emerald Gaiety and most of them died after
a year, even though they had decent water. They were going
great and then just vanished.

English Ivy grows thick about 30ft away in a slightly shady
area, so I'm going to put in new Ivy plants [Fall sale at
Lowe's .50 each] and try those.
I've already started some cuttings, but that will
take a little longer. Some of the Lowes plants are Baltic,
some of them are Golden Child. GP says it tolerates full
sun, but doesn't spread as far as Baltic. Weeds are a
huge problem on this hill, so I'm putting little square
cardboard frames around each plant. During Spring,
even with spraying Over the Top, coupled with the
size of the slope, manual
weeding becomes a big challenge. These are small plants,
with a fist sized rootball.

The hole in the cardboard is about 4x6 inches, with
4" of edge on the sides, and 2" on the top/bottom edge.
Hopefully these plants will grow over the cardboard
edge, and then put down feelers/roots and continue.

I'm' also planning to place larger pieces of cardboard
inbetween the plants, using landscape staples, and
after the plants grow over their little cardboard
collar, I can remove/adjust those pieces.
Does this sound like a plan? Asiatic Jasmine is also
on the menu.

itchy


I have a rather steep slope that faces south. It gets some shade from a
very large ash tree.

After having a slope failure repaired, I had to have the county approve
a landscape plan. They approved having the slope planted with a mixture
of English ivy (Hedera helix) and African daisies (Osteospermum
fruticosum). They advised me that the ivy alone or the daisies alone
would not be accpetable. Each sends its roots to a particular depth,
but the depths are different for these.

I would avoid Algerian ivy (H. algeriensis). English ivy has leaves
more frequently along the stems and thus provides better protection
against erosion.

I was warned by the county not to plant any trees on the slopoe. In a
wind, the trees rock back and forth, breaking the soil. With heavy
rain, that creates a path for water to penetrate and cause a repeat
failure of the slope.

See my http://www.rossde.com/garden/garden_back.html#hill.

--
David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/

Once again, there has been a mass shooting. This time,
it was in Thousand Oaks, California. And once again, just
as he did after the recent mass shooting in Pittsburgh,
President Trump sent his thoughts and prayers to the
families of the victims. Thoughts and prayers will not
stop the carnage. Action is needed on gun control, and
more guns -- as Trump proposed for Pittsburgh and Parkland
in Florida -- is not the answer.

On Tuesday, November 27, 2018 at 9:06:20 AM UTC-5, songbird wrote:
wrote:
Hi,

I'm trying to get some ground cover on a sunny slope,
[…]


you will probably find out after a while that the
best plan for a slope is to just trim it once in a
while with something […]


songbird

Yes maintaining the weedeater might be the best bet.
I'll try the Ivy this year and see if it takes off. That
hill is basically a giant root ball, it's had myrtles and
bushes and pine trees on it for years. I would have left
the bushes/myrtles but a few years ago a landscaper came in and
while I was not looking, he cut everything. Yay.

[…]
After having a slope failure repaired, I had to have the county approve
a landscape plan. They approved having the slope planted with a mixture
of English ivy (Hedera helix) and African daisies (Osteospermum
fruticosum).

David E. Ross
http://www.rossde.com/


Will definitely check out the daisy idea, might combine well with
the Jasmine/Ivy/& 'jungle grass'.