Mamajack suggested I give the Texas Forum a try.
I'm in need of something to take the place of weeds on a very sloped sandy/clay soil area. Mostly full sun....with some dappled shade. I would really prefer some flowering groundcover...and I had thought of ice plant (which I love)..but heard that the roots don't go deep enough to do much good.
I have this plant which spreads by runners and has small yellow flowers that look like daisies on it. It grows in sun or partial shade and spreads like crazy. You can walk on it or cut it to the ground and it comes back strong. I am sorry, I don't know what it is called but maybe someone else will recognize it. It is the plant with the small yellow flowers in the bottom left of the picture.
That slope is too steep to get anything to grow well. The first thing you need is a retainer wall so that you can hold some top soil, then you pick your plants.
Yes, we will eventually put in a retaining wall. Our entire property is like this...so one bit at a time.
It would be nice to cover it with something other than weeds and also help prevent erosion. We put some drainage pipe in before we sodded, and sloped back from the hillside...that has minimized the erosion aspect; However, the weeds grow FINE! ...and then the seeds blow around and make more baby weeds. I would think there would be something that would work...maybe a vine/groundcover? It just needs to spread and like sandy/clay.
Maybe Asian jasmine? It's pretty and evergreen and spreads aggressively. I used a small tractor with a backhoe to dig some that a friend wanted, and it has such deep roots that it was still a challenge to get it out. I can not dig it with a shovel or fork. You could weedwhack it when it reached the top of the slope and headed out across the lawn.
I love jasmine. I have a star jasmine planted elsewhere...and maybe that would do the trick. I was a bit reluctant to plant it because it is so invasive...but maybe that's what is required ;-)
You could put some Vetiver Grass. It's used in erosion control. It's not small, however. Mine get to two feet or more.
This message was edited Sep 6, 2009 10:33 PM
Periwinkle!
I love it. It grows wild in the old cemetery on our property. It has a big root system to stop erosion, vastly improves the soil, and will grow right down the steepest slope. Best of all, it loves central Texas and the deer won't eat it.
It is invasive so watch that it doesn't climb where you don't want it.
Nice shiny leaves and pretty blue flowers in spring.
the periwinkle looks beautiful. I think I may try a mixture of things and see what develops. You can't see in the picture...but that slope continues for about 100 ft...but less steep further down the line. Some volunteer Loblolly pines started growing there about 2 years ago. They grow fast...already over 15 ft tall!
The plant at the lower left of your second picture appears to be Zexminia, Wedelia texana, that would seem to be a good choice, and also appropriate to your area.
http://wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=WETE
Have you considered species daylilies? I have used them for erosion control over our garden for years. I love the fact that they are the last thing blooming...even in 100+ in August with no rain...and so do the butterflies!
The oranges, lemon and kwanso hold the soil throughout the year or until I mow/weed whack them down each fall...I know there seems to be a lot of negative thoughts about 'ditch lilies' but I think they are ideal for Texas weather and work wonders in soil erosion.
What about a wildflower seed mix appropriate for Central/South Central Texas and some Frogfruit? My Frogfruit has sent out runners 5' long in some places and is quickly becoming a nice ground cover for my large bed. Not sure how it handles shade, but it does well in the heat and sun. It produces lovely little white flowers with brown centers and doesn't get too tall. The wildflowers would provide some height and the frogfruit would provide cover for the ground, esp. with the long runners.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/62730/
I dunno about any erosion control ability - but Ajuga could work well.
Maybe you could 'terrace' the area with landscape timbers?
... We were planning on terracing up and back every 4 ft with retaining walls. right now the soil is holding okay since we graded it back away from the edge and put in 6 inch drainage pipe. I really just want something to hold the soil in spots were it's washing out after rain AND choke out weeds. If I get something too invasive, I may not have a lawn...although I'm finding lots of new runners from my zorro zoysia. I wonder what would win? Zorro or whatever I plant ; - )
I'd considered using four o-clocks. They're a bulb I hear and invasive. I've never grown them but got some newbie seeds started and they seem to be growing like weeds. I put a few up at the top of the road by my mailbox already. Daylilies sound lovely...and I had planted some down by the 4th post and edge of the deck(in the pic). they don't seem to be doing very well. Not dead, but not exactly thriving.
I have a neighbor who built a retaining wall making different levels of beds using bags of concrete. She just buried them a little and some she stacked two high. She used rebar hammered in to hold them in places. She just left the paper on the bags and as they the bags deteriorated the concrete hardened. It looks pretty cool. Of course the cost of bagged concrete is about as much as the landscape bricks you get from Lowes or HD.
Same thing that I have seen when tubing on the river in San Marcos.
I used those gray building concrete blocks buried half way with the more decorative brick things from Loews across the tops to cover the holes on them. I did this across the back of my beds that back up to the golf course.
I'm slowly collecting 'cinder' or concrete blocks for this project. My husband wants to be sure we do the base right...that means concrete footer, rebar and filling the blocks with poured concrete. The home was built with piers...but also built on fill, so we want to be sure to stabilize the hillside. The drainage made a HUGE difference...so we're able to slowly get the materials to undertake the project. In the meantime I am already starting to plant some items.
I planted a crossvine down at the bottom and plan on also doing some star jasmine. Along the top, but below the rocks some 4 o'clocks...hoping the seeds drop down the hillside and spread that-a-way. pink and white lavatera (just some seed I had) & some Sedum. Before planting, I dug somewhat of a valley so the plants will get some water penetration and ammended the soil a bit with some compost. I'll let you all know if it works out :-)
hello bluffles. good to see you here. what about passion vine?
Hi mamajack,
Do you know if it's an evergreen or deciduous? I may give that one a shot as well. Thanks!
well i don't know. i am betting it might be evergreen esp. where you are. but let someone else answer.
and another thing........another plant. dicliptera suberecta. it's cool. very drought tolerant. blooms in the hottest driest weather. is 2 ft. tall but lies prostrate. go look at that.
I will. Thanks!
I have used erosion control netting, and it works. I believe that I purchased mine at HD.
Clear what is growing there, till the soil, peg down the netting.
When you plant, just bring scissors to cut out holes where the plants are to go.
mexican petunia (ruellia) will grow anywhere, and form deep, spreading roots. Some types of it could be highly invasive.
