Gardening on Slopes – Family Plot

By admin | September 24, 2021 |

UT Extension Horticultural Specialist Carol Reese talks about growing plants on slopes. Erosion is the big challenge on slopes. Water runs downhill so it will erode bare dirt. Carol says you need to do something to stop the water from running down the slope while the plants to get established. Carol recommends diverting the water to keep it from eroding. If you can’t, use terraces, either formal or temporary. Her method of temporary terracing is rows of sticks stuck in the ground with straw or pine straw against them to catch the eroding soil. When the plants are established the straw and sticks will decompose into the soil.
Carol prefers shrubs over groundcover to stop erosion on slopes. Shrubs are less expensive because you need fewer of them to cover the same area. Also with shrubs there are fewer plants to take care of before they are established.
Carol likes several plants for covering slopes. Winter Jasmine is a weeping shrub that will anchor wherever it touches the ground. It also blooms in the winter. Another option that goes along with the sticks and straw above is to replace some of the sticks with plant cuttings that will root easily by themselves like elaeagnus ebbingei (ebbing’s silverberry) or forsythia. Trees are also a possibility but you will need to build a containment system while it gets established.