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lizatgar

Help! Large steep slope, can I plant ground covering from seeds?

lizatgar
11 years ago

There is a large steep bank at the back of my new house (sloped to the house), it takes more than half of the backyard and is about 100X15. We are a busy family with two small children and do not have a lot of time for gardening... I want to do a ground cover but it seems too big to cover! It is a new construction, so I'm wondering if we can just spread seeds of some sort of ground covering just like how you start a lawn? That will be so much easier than planting them one by one! Any suggestions? I'm pulling my hair when I think about it... I've had quite some sleepless nights. Help please!

Comments (7)

  • nil13
    11 years ago

    Yes you can. How steep is the slope and what zone are you in.

    You may want to consider planting some ground cover shrubs that have a large spread along with some seed. You can plant a few small groundcover containers and fill in the spaces with seed. Over time, the larger shrubs will take over.

    However, sowing seed on a hillside is not exactly a low work endeavor. I prefer to use plugs and a preemergent to minimize the weeding requirement.

  • goblugal
    11 years ago

    I agree that we need more information. Where are you, is this full sun, how steep is the bank (you have to consider erosion). Most "groundcovers" can be invasive, so what will you have in place to keep it from creeping into unwanted areas?

  • albert_135   39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
    11 years ago

    I had a catalog of grass seed that sold a ''binder''. One spread the grass seed and then covered with a mulch like stuff containing the binder then misted the whole thing and the water set the binder.

    I've no recollection of the names of the vendor or the grass. I recall the binder did not have a trade name on the package. I'm guessing there is a chance that the people over at GW's Ornamental Grasses might have given me the idea in the first place.

  • lizatgar
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I'm in zone 5, northern WV. The slope is quite steep, I'll say about a 40% slope and will be very difficult to mow if we put grass there. It faces the North and it's behind a house, so I'll say partial sun.

    The reason I'm thinking about seeding is it is such a large area, it will be too labor intensive to plant plugs (I've never done this so I have no idea). I'm also thinking about doing a retaining wall at the bottom but it is very expensive.

    I will plant shrubs and let them grow to cover most of the space, but before that I need something to cover the whole bank to prevent erosion (now it is bare, the builder will put top soil there in a couple months). Is there any practical solution? Thanks!

  • nil13
    11 years ago

    40% isn't that bad. I work on a lot of 100% slopes which can prove very problematic to seed and plant. I would plant the shrubs and lay down about 6" of bark mulch and a preemergent herbicide (actually, i would reverse that order). 15'x100' could be easily planted by a couple guys in 2 days.

    Plugs are easy. One guy spikes holes with mattock and the other guy goes behind with the plugs.

  • lizatgar
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you nil13! My bank is about 8-10 feet tall, and the run of the hill is 15-20 feet. 100% slopes would be completely vertical - can't imagine that! Thanks for your suggestion, I'm wondering if the mulch is easy to maintain. Do I need to add mulch every year, and keep weeding? Since it is a large area, it will cost a lot of money and work to mulch and weed. That is why I was thinking about an "aggressive" ground cover to control weeds.

    Also, do you have any idea how much the mulch and plugs will cost including labor? I'm totally new to gardening and have no idea...

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