My husband and I landscaped a steep slope in our back yard a few years ago (too steep to mow) and have fought sliding mulch, excessive weeds and tree overgrowth ever since. We had a professional landscape company give us an estimate for tiering the yard but the cost was much more that we wanted to spend. We put down a weed barrier which may be the cause of the sliding mulch and the weeds just come through the barrier and/or leaves and seeds drop from the neighbors overgrown trees that are at the higher end of the slope. What can we do with our lovely plants and landscaping? We are to the point of tearing all of it out and letting the weeds take over. intheholler2
As you've discovered, weed seeds will sprout in mulch or just a bit of soil. The best way to plant a steep slope is to use different types of plant material. A combination of trees, shrubs, perennials and groundcovers will slow down the rain drops and the runoff from rain. The different heights of those, along with the roots are what do this. Weeding will still need to be done at least twice a year in spring and fall.
I find that weed barriers can actually make more problems in a situation such as yours. The weed barrier will help to stop weeds from deeply rooting, but they really don't help to hold the soil in place or allow the roots of plants to spread.
Without pictures it would be difficult to say exactly what to do. Can you post some pictures?
Planting the correct groundcovers that will shade the soil and grow in a tight mass, rooting along their stems, will help stop weed seeds from sprouting.
When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
Newt, Thanks for your suggestions. I have debated removing th weed barrier as it has seemed to make the mulch slide down much easier and seems to make the weeds get a better hold of the fabric making weeding harder. I have attached a collage of pictures (top early garden, bottom this last Easter before spring plants). As you can see at the bottom, the mulch has fallen down quite a bit. We do not own the land the trees are on so all we can do is trim the overgrowth. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.
If you can plant as intensely as in this picture, I'd say to remove the weed barrier and plant groundcover that will happily live with the plants you already have. You're going to need lots of roots to hold the soil in place. Once the groudcover fills in you won't need all that mulch. Of course you can fill in with shrubs, perennials and bulbs for interest. The bulbs should grow through the groundcover. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/viewPhoto?uname=shroomat...=5144790297291266338
When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.
