Hart: The Meideland is really lovely. I love the color, and the foliage is nice too.
I need help picking long-lived plants
I got this a few years ago in the Park clearance for $2 and something. LOL I like it better than the Magic Carpet roses, which don't have very pretty colors that I've seen.
Happy, How large an area are you trying to cover?
Stormy: Not very large -- really, just spots here and there. The hill I am talking about is covered with daylilies and bits of juniper, some Rudbeckia, a chaste-tree, some sedum autumn joy, some irises, and a host of other perennials in spots that I can reach. But the middle of the hill is out of reach, and the plants I have put there don't make it, probably because I ignore them since there are always easier-to-reach plant problems to address.
Found the Ruby Meidiland rose for $12 something. They have other colors too, white and fuschia. I've ordered from Miller and been very pleased with the plants and if anything doesn't look great, they'll replace it immediately. You can also see from their photos how it's supposed to work as a groundcover. I'm sure the only reason why it doesn't do that here is the horrible soil it's growing in.
http://www.millernurseries.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=193
Hey Happy, Here are a few pics from that hillside I was talking about on the other thread. It is very pretty but there isn't anything all that great about it when you break down what is there. I hope it will give you some ideas you can use in your hillside.
First one of the things I was thinking is the diagonal stairs with the pots on them. A line of rocks set at a diagonal up your hill might give the same type of design without the actual steps.
The area to the lower right of the stairs is almost all just daylilies and just common ditch lilies at that and Vinca minor. When the Vinca and daylilies were in bloom it looked very pretty. You can see the stone grouping towards the bottom, there are little rock outcroppings scattered around the hillside and they give a little interest. The old steps have a couple of pretty pots sitting on them as well as these hanging pots on short shepherds crooks.
It's beautiful -- makes me laugh, though, because mine is about twice as steep. I keep meaning to take photos -- I'll try to do that tomorrow.
A lot of the hill is bare and I'm not sure what their plans for it are. I think there are hollies, azaleas and snow on the mountain in this pic. This is one of the areas with the rock walls, the walls seem to start and stop here and there. They don't just line up across the hills side.
I love the look of old rock walls like that!
Part way up the stairs there are stepping stones that go off in a different direction. I think that the fence at the top of the hill also adds some interest as it pulls your eye up the hill. You could put something across the top of your hill wouldn't have to be a fence, maybe a row of some bright leaved shrubs. I remember seeing a pic of your hill but it was sometime back. How big is it?
Last pic, hope this gives you some ideas you can use. Looking forward to seeing pics of your hillside. This old house had quite a redo several years ago. I would love to see what all was done.
Holly: Those are great -- I especially love the second to last photo. I probably won't get mine up for a few days bc of work demands (isn't July supposed to be slow?).
Holly--
Are the rock/walkway photos from your property? Can't say I ever saw all that.....but then I did not really venture out around your property....
Beautiful photos! Gita
No Gita, These are pics from a property near us. I thought Happy might be able to use or adapt some of the ideas for her steep hillside. We do live at the top of the hill but our property only has a slight grade nothing like this.
Happy, Were you able to make any head way on this project? If so, what did you end up planting?
I got a bit stymied. First, the dirt that is there, even though I really amended it a lot, isn't very good. And I don't have a good watering system though I"m working on that -- because the dirt is poor, the water runs off. And it turns out a huge (and I mean HUGE) stump was buried there which we are working to remove. So no, it is a work in progess!!!! I did have 3 tons of sand delivered to help amend the soil, because the organic stuff I added turned out to not be enough for that tough clay!
Wow, Happy. That is a project. Keep working on it. Adding all of that free from the township composted leaf mold, mushroom soil, and gypsum last fall really helped my dry windy roadside bed this year. I also covered that bed last fall with shredded freshly fallen leaves. I will add some more this year too.
DSO made me a drip sytem for that bed this year, but my water pressure is not strong enough to make it work well. So now I have to figure out what to do about that.
Putting in a reliable drip system has been my goal for a few years now....