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Can anyone recommend easy-care plants for a slope?
The backyard slopes down towards the house and I want to plant thing that will help prevent erosion and drink up water that would otherwise flow towards the house. |
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shade, partial sun or sunny? For shade, some small ferns will form a beautiful presentation. Also, english Ivy oe Virginia Creeper
Sunny: Vinca/periwinkle, rambler roses, |
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Pachysandra
Liriope |
| Buffalo grass. |
Please, no. Both are invasive. |
Have to disagree - pachysandra takes a lot of time to take root and mature. I've had it and liriope in the same areas for over 20 years and have never had to cut back. |
They are still invasive: Lirope: http://www.nps.gov/cue/epmt/products/Liriope%20spicata%202012%20NCREPMT.pdf Pachysandra: http://www.invasiveplantatlas.org/subject.html?sub=3058 There are hearty, easy-to-care for, native alternatives that promote biodiversity and are drought tolerant. |
I was waiting for this poster to chime in .
My neighborhood has many beautiful large well-contained plantings of both pachysandra and liriope, especially on slopes. They have not yet eaten the homeowners, so I think we'll all live. A little less paranoia, people! |
| OP here - partial shade/sun. I am also open to shrubs (tall or short) and smaller (less than about 25 feet high) trees. Anything to prevent erosion and water seeping into the house. Thanks for the replies thus far! |
There's more than one poster that shares this opinion. It's not paranoia; it's fact. Native plants help foster basic biodiversity, like butterflies for example. There need to be a diversity of plants for butterflies to use as a host and to feed. We've become a monoculture and you use more water with the non-native ornamentals. (You realize of course that plants can spread by seeds, berries, and pollen right? Not just the roots spreading.) |
SO RECOMMEND THEM ALREADY! |
Thanks for the botany lesson, I wouldn't have known otherwise. My yard has plenty of diversity, as I garden for hummingbirds, bees and butterflies. I plant what will attract them, not necessarily natives all the time. I don't plant anything like mimosas, since they spread easily. My aim is to have an attractive and colorful yard that will also attract different species. Pachysandra and liriope are slow growing and mind their own business. I'm sticking with them. |
Maybe that's my house! We've had liriope in the front yard in a curved bed for 20 years and I self installed pachysandra in a section of my backyard 18 years ago and both are contained and never need to be cut back. |
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shrubs? azaleas, hydrangeas, forsythia, butterfly bush, virburnum, oh my gosh there are so many it's hard to remember them all!
for low growing plants if you just want to plant and forget, then vinca is great. Cover it with lots of leaves in the winter to help it handle the cold, and it will grow strong and have beautiful purple flowers. |