Best mulch for a steep slope?

i.e. what won't slide down hill? LOL I have a slope in my back yard that goes down for about 15 feet at the same steepness of a set of stairs, if not worse in places. I'm digging out weeds and putting down a weed barrier fabric, but I need to put some mulch over it. I don't have the money or time to put in enough groundcovers to make it look presentable before I have to put my house on the sale market in 2 weeks. I want to know if any one has had any luck with a mulch, etc. that stays put. I was thinking pine needles might not be as bad as shredded mulch, but what do I know...not a dang thing. lol Help???

I would suggest pine needles. They don't shift around as much as shredded bark or other mulches.

What costs more these days, a bag of shredded mulch or a bale of pine needles? I got mulch in the 2 ft3 bags at HD for $1.66 the other day.

Angie, mine was not steep but I put out mulch and we had a hard rain and it blew the mulch out. I'm with Terry - pine needles don't move as much...Pine straw costs more but I believe it would cover more...Brenda

In a horticultural class, our instructor mentioned that there is a substance called "tack" that you can spray on mulch on a slope to prevent it from sliding down. He said that local hardware stores would have it.

I haven't tried this technique. Hopefully your local hardware store would know what this is and how to apply it, or someone on DG could help here. Do you have a county or state agricultural or home extension service in your state or local university/college?

Let us know what you decide to do.

Pine mulch is about $4 a bale, but 5 or 6 bales will do my two front beds plus rings around three huge trees.

And, here's a cheapskate tip: if you hit Home Depot or Lowe's after the weekend crush, they usually have a ton of loose straw all over the floor of the trailer it gets hauled in on (broken bales, etc.)

I usually buy a few bales (if I'm not buying plants or other stuff) and then ask the manager or whoever's helping me if I can haul off the loose stuff. (BRING GLOVES - scooping it up by hand is a bit dangerous!) Pile it in the truck first, then toss the bought bales on top. (A tarp would be good if you're going a good distance - we live 5 minutes from both places ;o)

Home Depot sometimes puts their leftovers out into bins that anyone can take, but sometimes the pinestraw and regular straw get mixed into together (not very attractive.)

lol, This is gonna be a HUGE mess in the back of my Rav4. I think I'll pass on the 'loose' stuff, but thanks for the tip!

I read up a little and saw the stuff about the sticky/binder stuff. It sounded like a commercial product, but I'll look for it. I thought that laying down the 'invisible' netting stuff over the top might be a good idea, but those stupid landscape staples don't hold much down. Don't know if that'll work or not. I might just wind up with a big netting hairball in the trees on a windy day. lol