Beginning steps for slope landscaping needed - Preparation

I haven't found anything to answer my question/problem in reading the first couple of pages of this forum, and I apologize if this has already been answered somewhere.
When I have some idea what to do first, I will continue my questions, so that I can develop this project step by step.

Here is my situation and I will attach a couple of pictures:

The slope runs north to south and is on the north side of the house. I am guessing that the angle is about 25-30 degrees. Drainage should be only from what rain will fall on it, as it is well drained away from the crest away from this side of the slope towards the west. The soil was imported from somewhere nearby (red) and is quite hard and needs amending.

In mid-September, DH sprayed Round-up and then two weeks later mowed it. Now, there are lots of clumps of cut-off vegetation stalks (i.e. weeds and two small trees).

Questions:
1. How should I remove those clumps? Indeed, do I have to?
2. I am sure there are lots of seeds there, how should I deal with those? Pre-emergent spray - when? Black plastic? I would of course like to start planting rather sooner than later.
3. I have lots of soil amendment and cow manure bags (broken, 50% off, LOL).
4. I have read in another thread about strategically placing some rocks, and I do have some (there is one on the picture on the right in front of the car), but they are not very big, and also, I do not have any bricks from the wall construction left.

Many thanks for any and all ideas/experiences,
C.

This message was edited Oct 28, 2008 2:58 PM

And a closer picture

I'm no expert, just a gal that has done this before.
I would beef up the soil as much as possible and then cover it with landscape fabric and mulch. That makes it so much easier to do the plantings as a separate job and to not have to fight weeds and erosion for the rest of your life.

Thanks, Nan, for your reply. I agree with your advice to amend the soil as much as possible, and I do have stuff for that.

But, what should I do with those vegetation "clumps"?

And I am afraid that the inclination of the slope my make any mulch wander down the hill - at least eventually, don't you think?

I am going to Costco today and I will look at their landscape fabric (if they still have it in the store).

You might be surprised how well mulch will stick--I've got hills and I don't have any problems with mulch sliding (to be fair, we don't get a ton of rain, but every winter we have a storm or two where the rain really pours down, and I haven't seen the mulch move during those storms). Don't use the really big bark chunks, but if you use the smaller bark chips then they're fine, or my landscapers told me the fine threadlike mulch "gorilla hair" would actually stay in place the best (I ended up using the small bark chips). But if you use the landscape fabric that might create a slicker surface for the mulch and make it more prone to sliding down. I'm also not a huge fan of landscape fabric over garden beds, personally I would use it as a temporary weed barrier/erosion stopper if there's an area you can't get to planting right away but then remove it completely when you do the plantings, I think the soil underneath will stay healthier that way. Here's a link to my garden diary if you want to see pics of my hills http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/m/ecrane3/

The vegetation clumps can be removed or just dug in deep as a soil amendment.
I live in the Ozark Mountains where erosion is THE fact of life. I find landscape fabric to be very helpful in this climate/karst topography. Gravel "mulch" works well on our near verticle parts of the yard. Shredded bark with no landscape fabric for most of the flat spaces.
While it is more trouble to put down, the 3' wide landscaspe fabric is the best to use in your situation as it is more easily removed in three or so years when your shrubs/tree/plants have "rooted" the soil. Until the roots are there to help hold the soil, erosion will be a problem without a barrier.

Thank you both. It seems, I need to think about combining both your suggestions and experiences. The gravel mulch is a good idea - I do have some spots that are really very steep, just under the porch.

ecrane, I had already seen your pictures, they are great, esp. the creek. How steep is your slope next to the steps?

nan, do you have pictures, I'd love to seen them too.

Thanks to both of you. I am not sure when I'll start, but some things I can do sort of slowly. Maybe I'll divide the whole slope into more sections and deal with it that way.

C.

No camera :-(

Hello, me again:
I have started working behind the wall. I am putting 3' landscape fabric down along it (difficult in the corner where the steps come down), and my question is this: how high should the fabric come up behind the wall? I am enclosing pictures to describe what I mean.

Now I am putting in soil, then I will cover it with mulch. I don't think I can put anything into this "ditch" behind the wall, it is not going to be deep enough, but I will ask you about that later, if I may.

The picture attached here shows what I have done. Right under the cardboard (protection) is the capstone (about 3" high). Under it, there are holes between the building bricks which on this picture I have tried to block with a piece of bigger stone, because I thought the soil I am putting in would push the fabric down into the hole.

Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?

And another angle

And this is what it looks like at its worst

Thanks for helping me with this,
C.

It looks like you are coming along well - I have a slope in the back, I don't think as steep as yours.

Where are you on your project now?

Well, I am not much further along, because I was waiting to see if some kind soul would help me out with the problem I described in the last posts with the pictures of the inside top of the wall. Also, we have had some good rain, so I decided not to dig. I hope you are not in the fire danger zone, Red?

One thing we have done is to pile up some sandy dirt (retrieved from cleaning out the pond last year) on the top of the slope, so when I start working in earnest, I will pull some of it down and spread it together with my soil amendments, because the soil of the slope it very, very bad - almost like putty in some places.

And - I got a whole pile of coffee grounds and will get more. I have four STarbuck's in the area!!!

What are you working on? Do you have a picture?

C.

Arghh! Lost the post.

Well, I guess nobody is checking this forum that knows a whole lot about hardscaping. The whole of Dave's is filled with the most kind and helpful people. I think what you are doing is perfect. Just make sure that the drainage for the wall is never clogged with dirt. I guess that is what you are doing with the landscape fabric at the top of the wall on top of the gravel. I saw one fall down last winter & it was heavy, wet mud that pushed it down - no drainage, or clogged with dirt.

Best of luck with what you are doing - keep up the pictures and keep informing us.
Sorry that noone knows enough to help.
Nan

Hey, no fire zone here. I spent the day mulching this.... (not as many issues as you have, but I have been following your post for info)


My soil is iffy, too - doesn't seem as bad now that it has rained, but I did amend with compost, and composted manure.

That picture doesn't really show how long, but the slope is not too bad... here is the part I've planted over the last couple of months and just started mulching today, obviously I need to work on the grass/bender board, lol - which is mostly clover anyway.

these pictures just dwart this space - I'm not a very talented photog..... here's the other side, with virtually no plants yet, but I did beef up the slope with some tall heavy edgers in places, when putting in a larger plant or tree - it's much easier to dig the hole and should shore up the soil. I've planted a fair amount of ground cover (which are still small) to help hold things together, too.

I'll take another look at your pictures, but it seems like you're headed in the right direction. We just don't get much rain here, so I didn't bother with the landscape fabric.... altho back in Oregon definitely I used that - but the rain there is torrential.

My gosh, Red, what you have done is beautiful - and you do have a lot more to go, but it looks like you know what you are doing, and you just have to do it. How long it this whole slope?

And Nan, thanks for checking in too. I can't imagine the horror with that broken down wall, what a heart ache. My wall is constructed correctly, I think, with a drainage pipe on the bottom and biggish gravel behind the wall. My problem is what is the most correct (and perfect, LOL) way to lay down the fabric over this gravel right behind the wall, as I tried to show with my previous pictures.. The wall was constructed by our friendly neighbor, who is a landscaper, and he gave me a good price, passing on his business discount on the materials to me. I feel a little shy about asking him about advice all the time.

I have been collecting coffee grounds, I have tons now, but I will need a lot more. I started putting some on this evening, and tomorrow I will put some sand (from cleaning the pond) on it or maybe first some soil conditioner (small bark), and I also have some top soil (all broken bags half price from Lowe's). When I am satisfied with that I will put on a biodegradable jute erosion netting and top it off with something mulchy, don't know what yet.

I got some of these ideas from this thread:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/829594/

I will keep reporting.

C.

Hello all: I am back after a long time, ready to ask for more advice.

In the meantime, we have dug up some of my slope (see picture at top of thread, we can't send new pictures right now), and I have put coffee grounds and a mixture of top soil and soil conditioner on it (broken bags, half price!!). Probably, it should be more than I did, it may just be two to three inches in all. I am going to get good mulch to put on top, which should improve the soil too.

Now my question has to do with plants. I want this to be minimal work. I am willing to work along the steps (am growing blue fescue and armeria for that) a bit more than on the rest of the hill, old bones, you know. So, I was thinking of juniperus procumbens 'nana'. Would it be boring to have all the same plant on the hill? What could I use to vary the height?

Closer to the house there is an indentation in the slope, which we should have filled in perhaps, but didn't, but still could. Can you think of a small tree or shrub that could be limbed up and takes afternoon shade?

In front of the wall, I already have a small lasagna bed ready for -probably - cleomes, which I love.

I should say that I have access to a wholesaler through some friends, but it is like going to a candy store, I always want one (or more) of each. So some thoughts from you would be greatly appreciated.

C.

Look at that picture they are a good combination of plants aren't they?

I really want to have this kind of garden landscape

Hi gurlyflower, that is indeed a beautiful combination. But you are in a rather different zone than I am. I am in 7b. As you can see, nobody else has picked up my plea for help, so I will start another thread in a couple of days (when I have pictures).

Sorry Clementine, I'm still watching this thread to see what some DG experts share with you. Good luck! - I look forward to seeing the pictures.

I think your ideas are great.