Ground Cover for steep bank

[BTI]

Need some help, thought you all might be able to help.
We have alot of banks on our property that can only be mowed with a weed-eater.
This is very time consuming, I want to kill off all of the weeds etc.
We have that under control.
The thing we need to figure out is what we can put on these banks for ground cover and erosion control that doesn't need to be cut.
Vines etc.
One boundry is the road the other is our lot (direct sun very little water).
This is one bank.
The others are creek banks.
I have checked around on the 'net.
Everything I seem to find is advertising, saying theirs is best.
Hoping some of you all have found something that works.

Thanks,
BTI

 

[RoyJackson]

I like juniper but it needs full sunlight to thrive.

 

[KentT]

Look at Vinca Minor (i.e. Periwinkle) for anything but the hottest, driest spots. It prefers shade or partial shade, but will thrive in full sunlight in moist soil. For the hot dry spots, you way want to consider Crown Vetch. Vinca is a beautifuly, glossy green vining plant that won't grow over 12" tall -- usally about 8" -- and will completely mat the area without climbing way up trees and taking over. Crown Vetch is a taller, slower spreading plant with deep roots that many highway departments put on steep banks to control erosion. Crown Vetch is a legume and actually increases the nitrogen in the soild.

Note that both can be somewhat invasive, so they may try to spread to areas where you don't want them -- that's the downside of any groundcover that spreads and fills in well. Keep that in mind and consider how you'll keep it contained...

Another alternative for the hot, sunny roadbank is "Native Daylilies" -- though not truly native -- you'd probably want to mulch them initially to get them established in a hot dry spot. But once they've gotten started, they'll fill in nicely, and are virtually indestructible. I used them above the old stone retaining wall around my garden, and they've spread nicely, filling in, and are doing a great job holding the soil in place and stopping erosion.

 

[Charlesaf3]

KenT, is that in Mass? I hope so, have similar issues.

 

[KentT]

KenT, is that in Mass? I hope so, have similar issues.

All three of the plants I described should work virtually anywhere in the US, short of the desert southwest and similar dry, western climates...

I've used Vinca Minor in Tennessee, Texas and Massachusetts... In Mass, it does well everywhere but on hot, dry southern slopes.

Vinca minor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I've used Native Daylilies in Utah, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and have just planted some in Tennessee. They'll grow well in Massachusetts, either in sun or shade. They'll grow thicker in full sun... They're almost a "ditch weed" in the Midwest, especially around old farmsteads. They're hardy in Zones 3-10.

eBurgess.com | Native Daylily | Product Detail

Crown Vetch is (or at least was) used by highway departments throughout the Eastern US, though perhaps not quite as much as previously, since it can become invasive...

Securigera varia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

All three plants will spread -- that's why they make good groundcovers -- and you have to be able to contain them. Daylilies are likely the least invasive, but they'll still spread...

 

[bigshovel]

If you choose to plant Crown Vetch be prepared for it to never die or be killed. Once you have it, it's for good. Immune to every chemical known to this universe and any other.

Brad

 

[BTI]

Thanks guys!
I'm looking very closely at the Vinca Minor (Periwinkle).
It's along the lines of what I'm hunting for.

BTI

 

[bigtiller]

Thanks guys!
I'm looking very closely at the Vinca Minor (Periwinkle).
It's along the lines of what I'm hunting for.

BTI

I think that is what is called Creeping Charlie. If it is, then this is the first time I have heard of someone wanting it. It is the most cussed at plant in anyone's yard in these parts.

 

[KentT]

I think that is what is called Creeping Charlie. If it is, then this is the first time I have heard of someone wanting it. It is the most cussed at plant in anyone's yard in these parts.

Nope. Creeping Charlie is a totally different plant:

Controlling Creeping Charlie

Had to fight it in my back yard in Minnesota...

 

[4720 OWNER]

Ranks up there with dandylions and thistle. Good in the right place, just not mine.

 

[VABlue]

I planted nearly 300 vinca minor plants in a shady, moist location two falls ago. The darned things never took... Last fall I planted annual rye grass to control erosion, and it's still here! Now I have to cut the stuff... I'll be seeding an over-abundance of dutch clover in the next week, or so (if it stops raining long enough), now. Stoopid periwinkle...

 

[Charlesaf3]

Sounds great. I need something that can fight the poison Ivy, bull briars, scrub blueberry and other weeds on that slope.

In fact, I'm now going to look at creeping charlie, though that may not be something I want to mess with.

 

[Charlesaf3]

annual rye is surprisingly perennial for me as well.

 

[ToadHill]

All plants have their place. Creeping charlie will stay green all summer even without water, while it's considered a weed, in hot dry weather it will stay green when every blade of grass is dorment. In addition it never grows over 3 or 4 inches tall.

 

[Charlesaf3]

What happens if you mow crown vetch?

I haven't had as much luck with daylilies spreading. I like them, I wish they wood.

How about daylilies mixed with crown vetch?

It would be for an east facing, sandy bank. Acid soil.

 

[KentT]

What happens if you mow crown vetch?

I haven't had as much luck with daylilies spreading. I like them, I wish they wood.

How about daylilies mixed with crown vetch?

It would be for an east facing, sandy bank. Acid soil.

You can mow vetch once or twice a year, just to kind of keep it tidy, but you can't mow it like grass. It needs to go to seed to spread...

Are you using the "plain old orange" daylilies, or a hybrid that's a different color. My experience with the old orange "native" ones is that they'll spread something like 6" - 8" or so a year. They spread from the roots putting out new rhizomes.

Acid soil isn't an issue -- mine is very acidic. Is your's salty perhaps from being so close to the ocean?

 

[Charlesaf3]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. I mean can you mow it as a means of controlling it if it gets someplace you don't want it? I assume it keeps spreading pretty aggressively till the end of time, so I might as well think of that now....

No salt, I don't think, though some closer to the water have that issue. The soil is really bad though - 4 inches down in a lot of places its pure sand dune, no joke. Engineer told me to backfill my barn with sand and I just laughed - what else would I have to backfill with?

 

[EddieWalker]

I like Vinca allot, but like previously mentioned, it can be tricky to get it going. Once established, it's a wonderful ground cover.

One of my all time favorites, and something that doesn't handle our Texas heat, but might work for you, is ornamental strawberries. They look just lik strawberry plants and even flower like stawberries do, but they don't produce fruit. They send out runners that turn into other plants and just keep spreading. It's like a network that connect each other. You can pull up one and it will turn into dozens of plants from the runners that it sends out. In a very short time, it will cover an areas with a thick, dark green, low growing plant that has small white flowers. It chokes out everything else and is really good at stoping erosion too.

Monkey Grass or Mondo Grass is a very popular one here. It's a dark gree, waxy type thick bladed looking grass that grows about 9 inches tall. It spreads fairly quickly and is used for boarders allot. If left alone, it will reach it's height and then start spreading out. It's very invasive and hardy, so once established, you just leave it alone.

Your best bet is to go to a bigger nursery. Prices are sometimes high at them, but I've also been suprised to find plants at some of ours that are cheaper then Walmart. It's hit and miss on prices, but the information you can gain by the people there is priceless.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[KentT]

I'm sorry, I wasn't clear. I mean can you mow it as a means of controlling it if it gets someplace you don't want it? I assume it keeps spreading pretty aggressively till the end of time, so I might as well think of that now....

No salt, I don't think, though some closer to the water have that issue. The soil is really bad though - 4 inches down in a lot of places its pure sand dune, no joke. Engineer told me to backfill my barn with sand and I just laughed - what else would I have to backfill with?

Yes, you can help contain Crown Vetch by mowing. Because it spreads by both seeds AND roots, though, both birds and the wind can spread it into places that aren't easily mowed.

I suggest you Google it and decide it that's the plant for you. We sowed it a few times on the farm as a cover crop, to get it's nitrogen-fixing benefits, then plowed or tilled it in...

 

[Charlesaf3]

Thanks Eddie and Kent! Appreciate it.