A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion Landscape trials and triumphs I need suggestions, yes again, for hilly area in our yard..

I don't have any pics to post right now of the area but I can get a couple tomorrow and post them tomorrow evening.

This area is a fairly steep bank.. beside our horse riding arena. It isn't too steep for hubby to mow with a push mower.. but he just hates hassling with it.. and I don't blame him.

I want something EASY.. and something that spreads fairly large.. as it is a decent sized area and I don't want to go broke buying plants for it.

I don't care if it is low growing or a bit taller. Something that blooms might be nice, but it wouldn't have to... but it needs to be prolific all summer.. and drought resistant would be great, so I don't have to add yet another spot to water.. and obviously a perennial is a must.. I don't want to replant again next year.. lol

Well, I don't know.. are those hard?? Hard to plant, or hard to care for?

How about crownvetch? That's what they use on the highways.

Carol

I just googled that Carol.. and it is pretty.. I will keep that one in mind.. thank you!!! ;)

Just add some compost& plant squash.

I have a hill like that.....I planted

- bishop weed as a ground, (fast growing green white leaves)
This is what it looks like around my hostas. It is aggressive I have to pull it up every year but I like it as a ground cover.
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- bushes, Forsythia bush, rose of sharon,
This is a rose of Sharon. You know what a Forsythia looks like it will give you your spring blooms. I have this color ROS white and pink.
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-in between I planted daylilies.
This Daylily is another agressive grower I do not know the name.
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The hill is always in bloom with something and all are fast spreaders.

This summer I am digging up a lot of things to move with me. If you want any of these let me know this summer. You will have to remind me because I will forget with the move and everything.

Those are pretty, Cinta. I live on a flattened place on the side of a mountain. My hills are too steep to mow. More like cliffs. I plant things on top to drape down as much as possible. I also tuck Just about anything into the cliff faces that I can. Iris' are a favorite for that.

Aww yes I forgot. I have this historic Iris that will grow anywhere. LOL

Yes, bearded iris are a good drought tolerant plant in my semi-desert region.

Thank you very much! I like the bishop weed.. it is pretty. I wonder if it is expensive.. I will have to research it a bit.

I don't think I want to go with Forsythia and rose of Sharon.. don't they get pretty big? I have one Forsythia that limps along every year.. lol I should probably figure out why it isn't doing so well and do something to help it. I digress..

I never knew Day lilies and Irises were aggressive.. at all! I thought they were more delicate. Hmm..

I had also considered Strawberry Lipstick plants.. they are pretty.. but I am not sure how they would do there.. I haven't researched them ... just know that they are pretty. lol

Anyone with any more suggestions, please keep adding them. Thanks!

I have Bishop's weed, the variagated variety....it is the most invasive thing I have ever seen. DH bought me three plants when I first started gardening and had no clue....it's been 10 years and I am still pulling it out by the handfuls...certainly a great plant if you plant it as a hillcover, it chokes out grass.

That sounds just about perfect!! lol We won't have to pull it out.. if it starts moving out into the yard, he will just mow it.

One concern I do have though.. I wonder if it is poisonous to horses. This area that I am talking about borders our fence line and our arena. I will have to check on that and if I can't find any information, maybe our Extension office might know.

Hmmm, not sure. I never planted it close to our pasture....

Ok, from what I could gather so far, it isn't poisonous to horses, but in RARE cases can cause Photosensitivity in them. So I think I would be ok.. I doubt they would even eat it.. but I didn't want to plant something highly fatal within their reach..

FYI...All daylilies and Iris are not aggressive. There are new hybrids that will limp along like your Forsythia. The two I posted are old and they are not the new hybrids that have been breed recently.

I do not know others experience but I have to baby all my new daylilies and iris. They are usually fancier and take and require more attention and still they do not spread as fast as the historic varieties.

Ok.. thanks for the info.. I must be more familiar with the new kinds.

Check out Gilbert H Wild they have a lot of the old Daylilies and as I said if you want some starts from me you are welcome to them this summer.

Cinta, that would be wonderful if you have some starts to spare!! Just let me know!! PM me!!

You have a PM. You will have to remind me. I will be moving and I know my mind will be crazy.

No problem.. I know what that is like.. hopefully I won't forget to remind you!!

I wish my memory would stop running away

No you will remember just do not delete your messages and when you look out over that hill the light bulb will go off.

Sounds good Cinta!!

Anyone else have anything to add to the list of suggestions??

Plant watermelon seeds on that hill.

I got a couple pictures today!!





Why aren't my pics showing up now?

Oh good.. there they are.. I don't know what took so long.. maybe photobucket was acting up..

enrique has a good idea, you could plant melons and such there.

How about a mix of Phlox and Creeping Myrtle? Both spread good and are hardy for at least my zone---6.

Only thing is they aren't too drought tolerant......

You could do some Creeping Red Sedum, it's hardy to zone 3 and with it being a succulent they are drought tolerant....

Hmm.. I considered it.. but I think I would rather grow something that is going to choke out the grass there.. and grass just grows up with the melons.. and it still looks horrible.. but thanks!!

And Loz, I am not familiar with the Seedum you suggested.. I will have to look it up.. I would really like something drought tolerant.. so I don't have to worry so much about it. Ya know??

Sedum is great.....a perennial that is very hardy......I don't have any red creeping sedum but I have a lot of the tall sedums..........I barely have to water them at all.

The red sedum is very pretty!! I wonder what I could mix in with it to make it more interesting.. it says the sedum doesn't bloom til late summer.. so maybe something earlier blooming.. hmm.. even the bishops weed that cinta has would look cool with it.. I wonder if they would try to kill each other off..

maybe

I love sedum and I have the red sedum it grows slow and not aggressive enough to choke out the weeds. If you wanted to do a rock garden that would work good on a hillside. You could lay weed block and lots of rocks on top of the weed block and plant the Sedum in between the rocks.

The bishop weed would over take the sedum because it grows too slow. They would not be good companion plants.

Bishop weed takes over and kills grass...nothing can compete with it. I've been fighting it for 10 years.

Try moss roses you can grow them from seeds and they are very drught tolernt! my gma has a ground cover its more elavy and it will choke out the grass and other plants it growes very fast and needs little watering it doesnt flower though but has many colors. ill have to tke a pic and show it to u she doesnt know what it is...

Portulaca(moss rose) is one of my all time favorites!!!! BUT they are annuals, not perennials like she's after and she may not like that. Here is their plant profile.

BTW your grandma probably has the sundial mix.

Portulaca plant profile

Hmm.. Ok, well, I think I am still leaning toward the Bishops weed.. I do want something Perennial for sure.. though I do grow Portulaca/Moss rose and I love it!! The Red Sedum is gorgeous, but I don't want to plant it and have the Bishops weed kill it off.. I might get some for another spot in our yard.. ;)

So there isn't really anything that will grow WITH the Bishops weed, correct? That it won't kill off?

Yes, I showed you I have it growing with my hostas and the daylilies. Bishop weed would grow with Iris also. What it grows good with is something that grows up-right. You cannot have something competing with it as a ground cover because it would cover it up but upright aggressive growing plants can grow with it.

hehe Yeah, I just meant another ground cover type thing! Sorry for that confusion Cinta!! LOL

There's always the cheerful wild violet:

i don't know about growing it in the yard but i want some for a bed! those are pretty!!!