huge slope!

I am very new to landscaping, gardening and planting in full sun! We just moved to zone 6A and we decided to till a very large slope in our backyard. One: because my husband could not stand mowing it. Two: I really wanted a perennial garden some where my boys could not ruin it. We tilled the slope and put small shrubs, perennials, and two dwarf trees. We decided to use english ivy as a ground cover (which the green house up the street recommended but now I am reading most people say is a bad idea). When i say we planted english ivy I mean we planted about 150 plants!. It is still no where near any of the plants we planted (ivy is about 6 inches long). So now I have a few questions.

Will the ivy grow in full sun (the greenhouse person said it would)?

If I keep the ivy can/should I stake it down around my perennials so it doesn't kill them?

Should I take the english ivy out and put another fast growing vine? If so what should I plant?

WEEDS!!! I don't want to use chemicals because I have small children. On the top of the slope is their swing set on the bottom of the slope is there soon to be wiffle ball field. Right now my husband and I are pulling and hoeing the area ALL the time. Should I use a flamer to keep the weeds and grass down?

Please help!! I like the over all look of the plants I think it 3 or 4 years they'll grow in nicely. I really don't care about the ivy. I just want a ground cover that will be nice all year and COVER the ground so I won't have all of these weed!!!

Thanks!!!



This message was edited Jun 10, 2008 7:50 PM

I'll admit I don't know a lot about ivy. About 15 years ago we had a ditch alongside the road that was 2 feet deep. Since our house sits on top of a hill I wondered why we needed a ditch that deep. We filled in all but the last 10 feet and seeded grass. We had a pile of rocks from the fields around a tree. The ones I could pick up or roll I placed along the ditch after digging it out a bit. I bought some ivy, 10 plants, and put them in below the rocks. It took 3 or 4 years for the ivy to climb up and around the rocks before I was pleased how well it was doing. There are still weeds among them and about twice a year we thin them out. Where the ivy crosses the rocks into the yard we cut it with the lawn mower. We mow a three foot strip between the ditch and the road so the ivy doesn't get into the road.

I can't think of any ground cover that will do what you want the first year or two. I see weeds growing up through cracks in concrete and I'm amazed at their will to survive. I would also believe any vine you plant will think of any perennials it contacts as merely another obstacle to overcome. Any other ground cover will also "fight" with trees or shrubs for water and space to grow.

Maybe if you sow annual seeds among the ivy it will grow and choke out some of the weeds. I'm imagining all the colorful flowers among the ivy. It's almost so pretty I can't see the weeds.

Wish I could be more help.

Gary

THANK YOU so much!! Trust me you can see the weeds!! I put pictures up in the beginner landscaping question forum if you don't believe me! :) I really do think eventually it will look very pretty. I even think it will look pretty this summer when I have time to weed!

Thanks again!!

Rae

get rid of the ivy and get mulch put down about four inches deep of it order it from a company like a five ton truck of the stuff and just clean the weeds and put down a filter clothe or newspaper about half an inch thick then you much leave some room around the plants without newspaper and your weeds will not grow or so minimal that you will just pluck one or two when you walk by, you could also plant more stuff like easy to grow cone flowers come in many colors and do well in your area lupin also in beautifull and they will grow from seed it take two years for the flowers to start but a lot cheaper

Thanks everyone for your advice. I will buy some lupin seeds this weekend. Thanks! I don't think I want to mulch it because my neighbors backyard has a slope also so I know that I have to watch that right corner for erosion from his run off. Plus I love plants my only vice in life is buying plants and easy seeds! I hate spending money on mulch. I don't mind the ivy as long as it can tolerate full all day sun and it won't kill all of my perennial flowers.

I think you'll find future weeding a lot easier and less stressful if you put some mulch down--if you get a truckload of it delivered it's a lot cheaper than buying individual bags at the garden center. Mulch will also help with erosion, and it'll help keep moisture in the soil so you don't have to water quite as often.