*lots of vinca and variegated vinca
*daylilies
* four hostas
* ferns
* lily of the valley
* sedum that blooms in autumn
* echinacea and black eyed susans in the sunnier part of the hill
* goats beard
* 3 carex evergold
* lungwort
* primrose
* columbine
* astilbe
* carpet bulgeweed
* lamiun white nancy
* woodland phlox
* heuchera
* english lavender
* tricyrtis
* one giant bleeding heat and two smaller bleeding hearts
* one Rhododendron that has been there for years and always looks pathetic

A few Solomon's Seal (polygonatum commutatum) might look nice as well.

As always, if stuff isn't growing the way it should there could be issues with the soil or drainage that need to be fixed before spending money on more plants. Have you tested the soil acidity for the Rhododendron? Is the rootball sitting up nice and high? Sometimes, a little Hollytone is all it needs.

===>> how do yews drop pine needles??? i suppose you are going to tell us it has pine cones too??? lol .. if it isnt obvious .. it has yew needles .. and yew cones.. if in fact they are yews ....

let start by stepping outside the box.. you have already set yourself in..

can you trim up the yews... to increase brightness???

can we have you step back with the camera.. and give us a bigger view of the whole???

and the dark part.. in that full sun pic.. should probably be considered barren.. nothing is going to THRIVE in that cave ...

ken

As for yews and yew needles :), I actually did trim them back, that is them trimmed. I can't reach any higher to trim more at this time. I have had a few landscaping companies come out and tell me they are yews and I should cut them all down. But I like them for privacy so I'm leaving them there. Surprisingly, there are actually ferns, bleeding hearts and vinca growing in that cave like area.

Here is a picture of part of the hillside from the front and also a picture of the pathetic rhodi. It has always been pathetic, even when i had other plants thriving there like 5 feet high butterfly bushes. A lot of stuff didn't make it when i had the retaining wall rebuilt.

Here is the sad rhodi:

jayco - i have some of that growing in the front in full sun. It is spreading so I'm going to dig some up and try it out back. thanks for the idea.

I think you have a nice retaining wall and yew border there. Just be careful about the grape vines on top of the yew, they should be removed or if you can't reach them, find where the vine goes up into the yew and cut through the stem to kill the top growth off.

Your plant selections are nice shady plants, but I'm not sure if they will (1) cover the ground enough to keep back the weeds and (2) be able to handle the root competition of the yews. The vinca and daylilies will work also the hostas, sedums and black eyed Susan. I like the idea mistascott had for Solomon seal. If you can get some it does a good job keeping weeds down and won't mind the roots.
Btw Don't rake or blow away the yew needles, they are free mulch for an area that could really use it. If mulching the whole area is out of the question maybe buying bags and mulching just the new plantings would be more manageable....

I don't think that is a steep enough hill to be problematic in terms of drainage/erosion.

Rear- shrub-Redwing Euonymus(unless it's on your state's invasives list)
and/or
Rhodotypus
Front of these shrubs:Eupatorium Chocolate
Front of eup choc:
Persicaria Lance Corporal and Corydalis Lutea

you'll find photos of these last 3 on our website
www.cottonarboretum.com/

best,
mindy

My first thought when I saw your photos was "Too bad orange daylilies or ostrich fern didn't take over the site a decade ago." I really don't like either of those plants, but they do have their uses.

Kevin

kato_b - I actually had a plan for today to find the end of that vine, wish me luck.

Kevin - I do have daylilies taking over the hillside. I planted one on the end which became trapped under the weedblock and grew huge under there (but when I pulled the weedblock off it had wilted obviously). Now there are five more young ones growing on the hill, evenly spaced across. So maybe in a few more years there will be more. :)

carrieb - here are the closeup pics of the Rhodie

My first thought when I saw that list of plants is that most of them are going to have some sort of issue with a shady, dry slope. Either they want more sun or more water than is going to be available. Then there is the question of whether or not they can compete with the vinca, whether the vinca should be the major plant life on that slope, and how all this should be arranged.

I'd start by deciding if this should be a garden with a variety of plants, or a groundcover area. If a garden, then look for lists of plants for dry shade.

I did throw all my fall leaves up there every Fall and it made the soil rich and that really helped to make the soil retain even more moisture.

I am using a lot of bushes. I will fill in as I go with some other plants but a large hillside I felt like it needed something more substantial than a bunch of little plants. I am using vinca as the ground cover.

I have so far....
Buddleia
Caryopteris
Cornus Arctic Fire
Hydrangea (hopeful with this because the deer love it)
Physocarpus Coppertina
Sambucus Black Lace
Sambucus Sutherland Gold
Weigela My Monet
Rose of Sharon

Check out Lowes Clearance rack in the back of the store. They have some awesome sales. I picked up a lot of bushes for 3.00 last fall for the hillside.