Planting to stop erosion

I heartily agree with Dadpad

as it should be........woman

I gots pics!!

Here's the whole slope:


Here's the troublesome spot:


Here's the top tier:


The middle tier:


Does that give a clearer idea? I keep trying to say that the problem is limited in scope and that I think planting something/ anything will help a lot, but I think the title may make it seem worse than it is.

I'm mostly going for, petunias or Japanese forest grass? Not the really complicated stuff. I don't think it's necessary, and if it is necessary, it's beyond the scope of what I want to do right now. I'm willing to sacrifice a few plants in the attempt -- as in, plant 'em, and if they help, great, and if they don't, then I'll look at the more complicated solutions.

Thanks!

By the way -- my current plan is to load some more dirt on the eroded part, plant 2-3 big gallon containers of Japanese forest grass or equivalent, plant a couple more things between the dead rhodie and the wall and then wait and see what happens. If that sounds reasonable based on the pics, great! If not, lay it on me.

Thanks!

It's sort of hard to tell from the pix what's happening. Maybe tomorrow after I catch up on some sleep..... I'll be back.

One point - or maybe two - plant in the empty spots. Even on the top tier. Petunias won't probably help with the erosion thing. Annuals grow fast, bloom hard and die back - there is little root development. The roots are what helps so much in erosion control.

My $.02 worth: Don't add more soil to what's there. Take a shovel and dig into the hill (slightly!) and move the soil downward a foot or two to create swales (like steps) that slope back into the hill and then over-plant the swales. When you are done you should have a stepped effect every two feet or so all the way up the hill.

The swales will retain the runoff and allow it to be absorbed by the soil instead of allowing it to run down the hill and carry off your soil with it. If you get flooding rains you can build stone overflow points into the swales to allow excess to drop down to the next level. If you do that put a large flat rock below the overflow point and plant around it with small, deep rooted shrubs.

I'd use perennials, ornamental grasses and shrubs on the tops of the swales with ivy and heavy ground cover inbetween and plant annuals (if you want to) in the bottom of the swales.

sounds reasonable to me soz. suck it and see. I think you may have trouble holding new soil on the bare patch below the rock wall without some kind of solid retainer but thats gonna depend on what rainfall you get. Fishin is right when he says tier it down the slope. This will slow the flow of water. What about a couple of bush logs across the slope instead of digging it out? New soil in behind the bush logs, new plants in the new soil. Stepping down the slope seems the most effective.
How about Dianela Tasmanica? it will stand a fair bit of moisture and shade, lovely big purple purple berries


http://www.calfloranursery.com/plinfo.html

Dianella intermedia
Similar to Dianella tasmanica in height (over 3 ft.) with a slowly spreading form. Flowers are small and purple but the real show is the prolific metallic blue-purple berries, smaller than Dianella tasmanica but more numerous. Best with some shade or cool sun. Moderate watering. Native to New Zealand. Deer resistant.

Dianella tasmanica
flax lily
Bold, beautiful, and evergreen. Grows to about 4 ft. high, slowly spreading to form small thickets. The sprays of bright blue flowers in summer are followed by large dramatic metallic looking blue berries that hold for a long time. Best with some shade or cool sun. Moderate watering. Deer don't sem to eat it.

Not reading other posts and answering off the top of my head, plant deep rooting shrubs at some number of feet on center, say, 10 or 12, and triangulate the planting; considering doing a "grove" of those shrubs. Trees at perhaps 20 feet on center. Inbetween, use groundcover plants - and I'd still go with at least perennials, including grasses. Don't try to hold a slope with shallow rooted things, such as gazanias, if they grow there, without more rooted plants around.

I like landscaped terracing for keeping soil in place. Still. water wants to sheet drain - which is why on major slopes engineers put channels and actual drainage paraphenalia in place to spirit the water off.

Pretty, DadPad!

I can post any of the pictures I have bigger if anyone wants to see more detail. Here's a bigger one of the problem spot:



Two additional details that might help:

I have mentioned erosion, and dirt being dumped on my back lawn before, and two and two may have been put together -- that problem is actually caused by water rushing under the stairs, though, not down that slope. I need to address the under-the-stairs problem sometime, but am not planning to do that now.

I moved here in summer of 2004, and the owners hadn't done much in the back yard at all that season, since they knew they were moving. There was bare dirt there that was usually planted with annuals, I think. The bare dirt eroded, and then eroded more. The slope + terracing is very old and I really think that it's not so much the water rushing down/ through as that there is nothing but bare dirt there and that with something there it won't be as much of a problem.

hmm, not bigger. :-( Can't figure out why. Oh well.

erosion
soz : i can see that there would be an erosion problem from the water runoff .
i still think you might try to remedy a spot on trial basis by using gardening cloth or burlap plus some mulch - three to four inches deep .
some easily rooting perennials might stabilize the area - i still think 'hen and chicks, would work , intermixed with some other hardy perennials .
is the soil quite hard - i.e. densely packed ? if so , you need to add mulch to help the soil retain moisture .
i'd say , usually it's a trial and error system to find out what works .
you might also want to look at the link .
green thumb up - till it hurts !
hbg
(just come back from the garden store : 2 LARGE bales of peatmoss , 20 bags of gardener's soil , 12 bags of cow manure (ahhh !) , 10 bags of cedar mulch - that should keep our backs aching for a few days !)

...EROSION CONTROL...

Another plant I thought of today. Liriope. It looks like a grass, but has flowers and berries.

I dunno if you'll be able to find Dadpad's little beauty here in the states. I've never seen it before.

erosion
we may have to pack our gardening gear and lend soz a hand , littlek !
we just love getting our hands into the dirt at this time of the year .
here are some more ...GROND COVER PLANTS...
hbg

It's a good idea, Hamburger! If I had the time, it'd be fun to be a visiting garden fairy.

That would be so great!! :-D

I found the pics on a California garden site and there are varigated types.

http://www.californiagardens.com/Plant_Pages/dianella_tasmanica.htm

sozobe - I'm sorry to hear of your erosion problem, but it sounds like you are getting some great advice here so far and will soon have a plan for victory over erosion underway, much as our president has a plan for victory in Iraq.

How's this for size: (imagine interlocking paving stones)

Dianella tasmanica is good in zones 9 and 10. Sozobe is probably in zone 6. That's a big climate difference. The plant could be annual. That would solve the worry about it possibly becoming invasive........

It is a very cool looking plant.