Hello - Im looking for plants to stabilize a small 6 ' slope in Vancouver, BC. The slope is at the front of the house, so I am looking for some attractive options. Thanking you in advance for your suggestions.
Stabilize with an engineering solution like jute erosion netting, hill blocks, stones or a wall, then plant. If there is instability plants will wash or slump away along with the soil.
Crown vetch, if you've got sun. It can be invasive, but it can be controlled (weed-whacker), smells and looks good. Tolerant of less-than-perfect growing conditions. ---Pachysandra has done well for me in shade.
Around here we call them Ditch Lilies. They're actually daylilies and they've been holding our steep creek bank together for years, through both flood and drought. They're absolutely amazing-- adaptable to a variety of soils as well as sun or shade.
daylily (ditch lily) are fabulous for such an area. they multiply fairly quickly and do so in a way that forms a large clump, so they hold the soil in place very, very well! split them the second year and spread out the clumps...and then do the same again in 2 years. you'll have the area covered in no time! bearded iris would also work - the rhizomes put out substantial roots to hold themselves in place and then the rhizomes double in size/send offshoots out and you can split them every couple years, as well, to get them covering the area well. crocus, tulip, hyacinth also. iris bloom late spring/early summer, daylily in summer thru to fall, crocus, tulip, hyacinth are all early spring. i'd fill in areas with coneflower or daisy or black-eyed susan (or all three ;) )...they all start blooming early summer and you can dead head to keep the flowers coming through fall. all are 'bi-ennial' which means they grow the first year and bloom the second. coneflowers are perennial and will continue to grow and bloom every year. the daisy also. the bes there are three types - perennial, bi-ennial, annual. most of what we see down here are bi-ennial - they grow, then bloom the second year and then die - since they bloomed, they set seed and the seeds will grow the next year (no bloom) and then bloom the following and continue the cycle. the way to have blooms every year is to stagger planting the seeds - buy plants and allow some of the seeds to fall to the ground and collect others. the seeds that fall will grow the following year and not bloom. the following year, plant the seeds you held back; the ones that grew last year will bloom and the ones you just planted will just grow. allow the blooms to go to seed and let them fall...the following year you will have a mix of 1st year and 2nd year (which bloom) and just allow things to go on as nature has it and you'll always have them. ehh, it's a little bit of extra work for a couple years...well worth it though. you can do the same with coneflower...or just buy plants (which will be in their second year and ready to bloom) and then they're good to go from then on...they will also self-seed, so you can move them during their first year if you want so you have blooms somewhere else the second. you can also put in some stone-crop sedum...they bloom in late summer/fall and have nice leaves in the mean time. and will also spread out nicely (not invasive). other plants are mums and asters - both are late summer/fall bloomers. you can do up a nice mix of all of the above to have blooms from spring through fall and they'll all work well for the location - sun-wise as well as holding the slope in place.
How close to the house? If less than 30 metres, best not to plant aspens (or any other poplar) as they have very invasive roots that can cause severe damage to foundations of buildings in some soils.
There are several plants that will do the job. What is the desired finish look for your front yard? What is the sun exposure? How steep is the 6' slope? I would expect that a mixture of plants would be better. A mixture of plants would give you a range of root depths, rather than relying on only one type of plant with one depth of roots. Shrubs such Symphoricarpos ablus (snowberry), Gaultheria shallon (salal), Arctostaphylos uva-ursii (bearberry); Rosa nutkana (Nootka rose) are native BC sun-loving natives that spread by underground runners. These shrubs with some deeper rooting trees may do the trick.
Thank you all for your help - you have given me some wonderful ideas to get going on this. I will look into using the jute along with a variety of the different plants you have suggested. This is wonderful
