Advice on Fast-growing groundcovers for hill - Ask Extension
Hello! I have a weed problem on a difficult to access hill area of my back yard. I'm looking for recommendations for what can be planted that can cov...
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Advice on Fast-growing groundcovers for hill #872085
Asked June 07, 2024, 1:55 PM EDT
Hello! I have a weed problem on a difficult to access hill area of my back yard. I'm looking for recommendations for what can be planted that can cover the hill for minimal maintenance, covers the bare dirt, and keeps weeds from returning. I'd prefer green plantings vs a huge area of mulch.
Background: We moved in this house about a year and a half ago and the back third of our property was covered in some sort of a bean weed and extensive porcelain berry vines. It appears that years ago someone covered the hill in landscaping fabric and mulch, but weeds and roots grew on top and through the fabric, making for a challenging cleanup. We cleaned the hill down to dirt, but weeds again took over by the end of summer. I did try to landscape with some plants - hostas, daisies, lilac buses, and magnolia. I tried some sedge grass, but it doesn't spread quickly enough and rabbits eat it. It gets sun from about 8am - 2pm daily. It's also my understanding the hill was originally covered in grass and mowed. Your thoughts are appreciated - see photos.
Montgomery County Maryland
Expert Response
We recently overhauled our Groundcovers web page to include plant lists based on specific site conditions (sunlight, soil moisture), which might be useful. We tried to include a few aggressive (but native or non-invasive) species for the purposes of this exact situation -- gardeners needing fast coverage or erosion control. We do note which species on the lists are usually unpalatable to deer, though we don't refer to rabbits, since such plant lists are more scarce and not very extensive, so it's harder to predict what they will or won't nibble.
Nothing can completely keep weeds from returning, as wind or wildlife (like bird droppings) can always introduce new weed seeds any given year, but barriers to germination like established dense plantings and mulch between plants can help reduce the quantity of weeds significantly by keeping any exposed soil covered. Granted, it will take a few growing seasons to establish a groundcover such that it can carpet any exposed soil, but it will just need monitoring and some weeding until it gets to that point. Biodegradable soil covers like mulch (shredded bark or perhaps wood chips), untreated burlap, and paper-based landscape "fabric" (which might just be called "landscape paper" by retailers) can help suppress germination in the meantime, and since they self-compost over time, they won't need to be removed by the time they'd be in the way of spreading groundcover roots or runners.
While careful use of certain pre-emergent herbicides might also work, we generally discourage their use (especially where they might be carried off as stormwater pollution on a slope), and some ingredients may affect desirable plants that are sensitive to certain chemicals. Plus, they would also inhibit any self-seeding that may be desired from some groundcover plants as a means of performing their function of spreading into larger colonies.
If you'd like more ideas than what is included in the lists within the page above, we can try to provide more options, though they might not be native species (if that is what you prefer) or species that stay particularly short. (There's certainly no problem in using tall groundcovers, it's just not what most gardeners prefer to use, which is why our focus was on lower-growing selections.)
Miri
Nothing can completely keep weeds from returning, as wind or wildlife (like bird droppings) can always introduce new weed seeds any given year, but barriers to germination like established dense plantings and mulch between plants can help reduce the quantity of weeds significantly by keeping any exposed soil covered. Granted, it will take a few growing seasons to establish a groundcover such that it can carpet any exposed soil, but it will just need monitoring and some weeding until it gets to that point. Biodegradable soil covers like mulch (shredded bark or perhaps wood chips), untreated burlap, and paper-based landscape "fabric" (which might just be called "landscape paper" by retailers) can help suppress germination in the meantime, and since they self-compost over time, they won't need to be removed by the time they'd be in the way of spreading groundcover roots or runners.
While careful use of certain pre-emergent herbicides might also work, we generally discourage their use (especially where they might be carried off as stormwater pollution on a slope), and some ingredients may affect desirable plants that are sensitive to certain chemicals. Plus, they would also inhibit any self-seeding that may be desired from some groundcover plants as a means of performing their function of spreading into larger colonies.
If you'd like more ideas than what is included in the lists within the page above, we can try to provide more options, though they might not be native species (if that is what you prefer) or species that stay particularly short. (There's certainly no problem in using tall groundcovers, it's just not what most gardeners prefer to use, which is why our focus was on lower-growing selections.)
Miri
