One Hill of a Problem

I live in Zone 6 coastal CT and have a sloped yard that turns into a steep slope down to the water. Its really almost a small bluff overlooking 840 acres of salt water and marsh. The "HILL" is covered in saplings, prickers, poison you name it, bindweed,wild grape and an incredible assortment of weeds. It is split down the middle by a stair leading to the dock and every summer I have to fight to keep the stairs from being overtaken. Also, that hill is an awful eyesore. It is about 100 ft wide and 30 feet deep and I would like to attempt to clean it up and plant it. Southfacing, full sun, (keep in mind we get wicked winds here and it dries out the soil) I hope you guys can help me with some great suggestions...what should I do? How can I clean it up and what should I plant?

Carrigan, welcome to Daves!!! The best garden spot on the web!! Can you grow Oleanders in your zone? Great coastal plants and beautiful flowers...Lisa

Wow Carrigan - sounds wonderful. Is it not possible to keep some of the better weeds, i.e. wild flowers. There are a number of plants that will grow in these conditions. Here is a Maine link that will take you to many sites - I hope it proves useful :-)

http://portlandme.about.com/citiestowns/newenglandus/portlandme/cs/gardeninginfo/index.htm

Carrigan, I'm so glad you found Dave's Garden. This is truly the best garden site on the web.

Here is a link that is maintained by the Connecticut Botanical Society. http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/galleryindex.html
This list contains all the names of native Connecticut wild flowers with a description and picture of each plant.

You can also contact the Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service for help in selecting plantings for you site. http://www.canr.uconn.edu/ces/

Good luck and let us know how your project goes.

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Great advice Patty - especially mountain goats - so surefooted...lol!

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Hi Carrigan,
If I were you ... I would dedicate this year to killing the weeds growing on the slope - And I mean KILL them because those are some nasty weeds you have. If you don't they'll take over your plantings in no time and all your effort will be lost. I planted an area on top of a retaining wall about 3 years ago. We removed the sod and tilled the soil adding peat & compost. It was as nice as potting soil and I had a wonderful time planting it. What I didn't realize at the time was horsetail was growing in with the sod. When we tilled we broke all the little roots up and spread it through out the entire area. The first year wasn't bad ... but the second year horsetail was coming up in all my plants. This year it has taken over the entire area and I had to take the plants out. It looks awful and my mission this season is to KILL all this horsetail with an herbicide & by smothering with plastic.

With your slope - I would cut all the growth down to the soil line. Maybe renting one of those sickle mowers would make the job easier if you can handle it on the slope. After that the weeds will send up new growth within a couple of weeks. One option would be to use an herbicide at this time. I have always been against herbicides but after dealing with my "nightmare weed" I've had a change of heart. I did a little research about them and found that a glyphosate herbicide is totally non-selective and breaks down quickly with out harming the soil structure. Round-up is the most popular brand. You may need to give it more than one application for shrubby perennial weeds.

Another option is to smother the area with a heavy black plastic mulch. I haven't found this method to be as affective as an herbicide because some weeds (like horsetail!!) will manage to grow through the plastic any where it can squeeze through. To smother the area you should leave the plastic on for an entire year, You can lay a bark mulch over the plastic to make it more attractive for the time being.

My plan of action for the year is to do both options. I will spray until I'm satisfied it's not going to come back and then I'll lay the plastic down and cover it with bark mulch. Any horsetail that creeps through the plastic will be sprayed again. It just about kills me not to plant the area but if I want it horsetail free I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and do what I gotta do. I've already spent a lot of time and money planting the area once - only for it to be ruined.

As far as plants for your slope.... the list could go on & on. There are a lot of low matenance options you could plant that would do well. If you do follow through with a season dedicated to weed killing than you'll have all summer to plan & think about what you'd like to plant. There are lots of attractive ground covers that are hardy and not fussy about soil. The slope planted with groundcover roses would be stunning, or daylilies, or native wildflowers or......

Thanks so much for your helpful responses. I am definitely going to take your advice on plant materials.

I really am daunted at the task of clearing that hill... As a rule I don't like to use any chemicals and considering my proximity to the water and the fact that it is federally protected wetland, I can't consider it as an option. Do you think if I clear it by hand and lay plastic over it (which was a great suggestion) that it alone will do the job, or is there something else that I should do as well? Also what type of plastic should I use?

Old carpets might be an option, covered with straw or wood chips makes it more aesthetically pleasing...the heaviness of the carpet helps squash all those thugs...turn it so the carpet side is down with the backing up...looks better that way. I have been fighting bindweed for years in my garden...tilling is the worst way to increase it...breaks up all those little roots and each one makes another plant...I won't use chemicals either...
I agree with Patty about the goats...perhaps you could tether a borrowed one for a few days and let it have at it...they will even eat the prickles.
Can you get a brush hog in there for an initial mowing? That would even out the playing field a little.

What about the lasagna method? I have been reading about it. Would it be a way to go for Carrigan or does she have way too large of an area?