Planting to stop erosion

Can you show us a picture? and the landscaping in the area?

My first suggestions are: no petunias. no small, annuals. Plant something like eunomous (ugly) ewe (boring) and variegated carex (pretty nice grass-like sedge for shade. Also, look up japanese forest grass (I think).

The carex looks really good, littlek!

Husker, not really -- I took some photos last year that I think included that but they were online only in an album that has since expired. I can take some new photos but will be a while before they're developed. I hope I included all of the necessary info in my initial post, let me know if you have further questions.

erosion
hi soz :
we have had an erosion problem at the back of our house for a long time , solved it -almost - a few years ago .
-dug down about a foot and a half
-placed some 'gardening cloth' (you know the kind ? black or green) along the side of the house , about two feet wide , slightly turned up against the house-wall
-put some good soil , peatmoss , ground limestone mixture on top
-next took some goodsized flat limestone chunks (plate sized) and put them on top
-now put a layer of mulch on top , both to even things out and to prevent the soil from being washed away
-planted all kinds of perennials that can withstand heat and drought , a lot of 'hen and chicks' - they spread nicely
-in the spring i just throw about a bag of mulch over it to cover any blank spots
-just looked at it today , already some flowers
-btw the section is about 30 feet long and three to four feet wide
-if you have a much larger section you may have a lot of work ahead of you
-you could always try and place lots of mulch between the plants , that would be a start
-btw our problem was not just erosion , but the plants would get burned in the mid-summer heat , even 'regular' flowers do rather well now

green thumb up ! hbg

...STOP EROSION...

Did you find the Japanese forest/mountain grass?

The carex is good in shade, very good, and grass is always great for erosion. Plus if you get the variegated version, it'll help lighten up your backyard.

erosion
btw those 'hens and chicks' spread very well , a single 'hen' will probably cover an area the size of dinner-plate by year-end ; it's best to give them some space for expansion - they'll grow right over the mulch within a year . you can also 'nip off' a few chicks every year and and transplant them . they'll grow in almost any soil . hbg

Hamburger, Soz doesn't have muh sun to work with.....

erosion
littlek :
those 'hens and chicks' are pretty hardy and undemanding .
we started out with 'the gift' of a couple of chicks - and is has become the gift that keeps giving ! they'll grow in full sun or shade - we have some right under our spruce trees where they really don't get any sun - they grow , but somewhat more slowly . hbg

Cool, that's good to know.

That's quite a project, hamburger!! I don't think anything that major will be necessary -- we'll see. The problem spots are actually a very small percentage of the whole slope. I'll see if I can provide a better word-picture:

The slope is already broken up into three tiers, with old stone retaining walls separating each tier. The slope is about 9 feet wide and maybe 25 long. The tiers get larger as they go down.

The first tier is smallest -- it has some vinca around the edges, a live rhodie, and three hostas. It is the flattest tier, and gets the most sun. Erosion is not much of a problem there at all, I plan to put petunias or impatiens there but just for color, not to protect against erosion.

The next tier has a large red bud tree (trunk about 15 inches diameter) coming out of it, a dead rhodie, and quite a lot of vinca. The dirt area is about 3 -4 sq feet, from the dead rhodie to the retaining wall on that tier. That's eroding and needs to be addressed.

The last tier is by far the largest -- starts at about 9 feet wide but opens to about 12 feet wide, and is longest too (maybe 12-15 feet long). The center top of it (right up against the retaining wall) has the worst erosion, right where the erosion described above dumps and carries away more dirt. The problem area is maybe 3.5 feet by 2 feet. Just dirt. All the rest of that tier is ample vinca, ivy, some daylilies, a bleeding heart, etc.

Two or three big clumps of carex or its equivalent plus a few little fillers would do the job, I think.

Eventually I'll have to replace the dead rhodie on the second tier with something comparable.

Mexican feather grass does well for that.




the only set back to using it is that you would have to buy a good size one in order for it to begin making a diffrence NOW.


Is the slope steep enough to possibly make a tierd rock wall out of it?

>>>Edit<<<<

i just typed an example / suggestion right along with what you described was already there..

obviously it isnt working too well for you..

The wall in general is pretty good I think, and only less than 10% (5%?) of it has erosion problems -- I think with the right plants there it will cease to be a problem.

Japanese forest grass looks promising, too!

thats pretty too.

Do you like yuccas?
We have 2 big ones in the ground outside just below the slope of the roof, and I have noticed that the roots they have are thick, and close to the top of the soil.
Very little , if any , gets spilled out of the garden bed, or washed down with rain..

i will have to take a picture of it, because , the more that I think of it, the less I think it is actually a yucca...

I have major sloping in both front and back yards and ivy was planted to curb the erosion.



This is just an example of the ivy. I'll post a shot of the actual sloping and the ivy cover tomorrow. I've always loved the look of it. It's maintenance-free practically and coverage is complete.

Have you thought about planting a good grass? It'll help stop the erosion, easily planted, and cheap.

Or...dependant on where you live..what about planting bamboo? It would help stop the erosion, but it would provide a wind break and a privacy screen too...?

There's a ton of ivy and vinca there now, they definitely help. I could just put them in the problem spots I guess, especially in front of the dead rhodie.

I'll try to take some pictures today.

erosion
hi , soz !
aha , aha ; so there some bare spots that are giving you trouble ?
i'd think a good bed of soil , black earth , manure and limestone - about six inches deep- should help . whatever you plant , put a good amount of mulch around the new plants . i think plants often suffer from drought and heat , and the mulch will keep the moisture in and keep the soil cool .
went for a walk in our neighbourhood ; some neighbours have turned their frontlawns into flower/shrub gardens , not a blade of graass .
actually makes sense , unfortunately , we have a rather large corner lot - about 10,000 squarefeet and we'd need a lot of plants to cover the area .
we have a hedge running around our lot - set back about 10 feet from the street and we've started to reduce the lawn-area between the hedge and the house over the last few years .
cutting the lawn isn't my favourite job any more !
green thumb up !
hbg

soz I'm studying conservation and land management at present on of the topics we have dealt with is erosion mitigation.
The place to start is examining where the water comes from.
Is it coming from further up the slope or just from rainfall?
can the runoff be diverted before it reaches your area? what would happen if you did divert, where will the excess water go?

The next thing is, can you slow the flow? terracing or small cross slope channels? Even small logs or rocking embedded in the soil will slow the flow.
Grasses are probably the best method of binding soil but you will need deep rooted plants as well to. Getting the grass established in good time can be a problem especially with shade present.
I wont suggest plants cos your environment is completly different to mine.
Just examine the whole situation not just one portion.

Or you could get a quote from a landscaper for installing drainage tile.