Landscaping a Slope |Landscape a Hill| Erosion Control

(anderson, sc)

Here is a question about landscaping a slope or other methods of erosion control.

We have a hillside slope made of dirt and clay. We need an inexpensive way of stopping the erosion. When it rains we get large amounts of clay/dirt in our dry creek bed and junipers on the lower hill. It is in a very sunny area. The hill actually belongs to our neighbors, but if there is an inexpensive fix I'm sure we both could come to an agreement in fixing this messy problem. Thank-you

ANSWER

You could install a retaining wall, but this is not inexpensive. So you have to use landscaping with plants to control the erosion on your slope.

What you want to do when landscaping a slope such as yours is have plants that like the sun and have the plant roots eventually take up most of the hill soil. Since the water will not stay in place as it would on a flat surface, these plants get less water and therefore you also want drought tolerant plants. This of course, is very "green" and good for the environment.

Watering them will be a bit of a problem at first due to the water runoff. You will have to water them slowly with a trickle. When you plant the new plant material, make sure you use some good topsoil that will help the water be absorbed...clay is terrible for this.

Ironically, I was in a similar situation recently. I wrote all about it on this website page:

Xeriscape Plants.

Please visit it as you'll get some plant ideas. The Sedums, Junipers and other plants are doing very well. The only one that suffers at times is the Geranium, which I would not recommend. The blue-green Sedums are very hardy and look beautiful. I am not usually one for blue-ish foliage, but these plants look great and really help to control the erosion.

You should also visit my page on Landscaping Steep Slopes.