Is there anyone out there who can help me. Just waiting for some replies. Thanks.

I would suggest going with the vinca, as it does flower, and is somewhat evergreen (it doesn't die back completely). I have vinca planted around my home, and it makes a wonderful, thick carpet, especially in the areas with the most sun. I still have to periodically weed, but there isn't much that grows in it, and you can step on plants without really damaging them. However, if grass seeds in it, it is tricky to remove. We do have some large oak trees that provide some shade, so it doesn't actually bake in the hot sun all day. In the shadiest areas, the vinca isn't quite as thick, but the soil is pretty lousy and compacted (we have lovely clay soil here in eastern PA). Once established, they are very drought-tolerant as well. The down side is that vinca is pretty tedious to plant, and it might take a year or two to get it established, but once it's in and happy, it is pretty maintenence-free and does look nice. My only question is (with whatever it is you are planting) how steep is the hill, and how much run-off do you get. If grass isn't working, is it because of the rain run-off or is it too steep to mow? Vinca roots just on the surface, so it may not do well on very steep slopes if drainage isn't so great with your sandy soil. In some other threads, Creeping Jenny has been mentioned. Most loosestrife is pretty agressive, and this stuff really can take over an area quickly. You may want to look into that as well. I can't really speak to Ajuga, as I only have a small patch of it in my garden. Whatever you do, make sure you kill ALL of the grass before planting anything. And put down a pre-emergent to minimize weeding while getting your groundcover established.
Good luck!

I'll second the vinca minor (VM) recommendation. VM is very tough. I have it growing on a small berm with a 1:2 slope, and it is doing fine. I don't have any VM growing in full sun, as all of my yard has some degree of shade, so I can't speak to the full sun portion of your slope.

You should consider planting a VM with variegated leaves to add some additional interets, and VM comes in several different flower colors. I have found the variegated varieties to be more aggressive and in-filling than normal VM.

Along with the VM, consider planting some stoloniferous shurbs to prevent soil erosion. I have red-twig dogwoods in part shade growing on 1:1 slopes for winter color and erosion control.

The hill is pretty steep, I would say 30-35 degrees. The run off is not bad, the problem is I cannot mow it, I have to climb up and use a trimmer and I do not enjoy it, to say the least. I cannot kill the grass as it would leave me too exposed even for a short period of time. I have to leave the grass. I like the vinca and that was the original plan but I am concerned about the full sun and whether that will provide any erosion control. I have been doing a lot of research and am now wondering about purple wintercreeper, cottoneaster, bearberry and stonecrop sedum? Thanks for the suggestions so far, I just keep researching but I do want to get this done before the winter if possible.

I'm a bit confused about the grass part- I'm not sure how to have groundcover with grass. Are you suggesting the area is too large to leave the ground exposed until something gets established? If so, then maybe you want to focus on the steepest part of the hill first and cover the area in stages. I like the idea of interplanting small trees, as that would eventually provide some shade and interest. Ornamental grasses are always sun and drought-tolerant as well. That's a pretty steep hill, though. Whatever you select, make sure you can trample on it a little bit, as weeding will always be an issue to some degree.

Did I read the dimensions of your hill correctly? 60 ft up by 200 ft across? That would take a whole lot of flats of vinca to cover! That said--it would do the job, although my eyes cross at the thought of the amount of labor involved. I would definitely take it in stages, starting from the top, and mulching HEAVILY between plugs with ground bark mulch. Perhaps make a temporary "dam" of stones, lumber, whatever, to keep the mulch from washing downhill.

Although the prairie habitat is NOT native to New England, it sounds as though you may have a spot to consider a meadow of native grasses and flowers. Lisa is also on to something with her suggestion to plant some trees. A canopy of mixed hardwoods will eventually provide its own ground cover!

I'm having a bit of trouble visualizing this slope, but maybe a creeping sedum will work for you? It takes full sun, and should likely do okay in the morning shade/afternoon sun. It does well in dry, poor soil, so once established should be okay in this difficult place to water. My sedum Westeinphaner Gold turns a beautiful bronzy purplish in winter, and has yellow blooms in spring. It spreads well without being invasive. Kamschaticum is also a nice variety, (also yellow blooms) and I'm now trying John Creech (pink). There are several varieties to choose from.

There is also phlox subulata, but I personally have not had as much success with this as with the sedum in the same conditions, and it's not as reliably evergreen.

Can you post a picture of this slope?

:)
Dee

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I will try to post a picture of the slope. I have never tried to post a picture here but it probably cannot hurt too much. Everyday I see something I like and think about a new direction. The idea for the day is to use a low lying juniper. I will try to make the picture work and see if that helps everyone.

I have a similar situation...huge steep hill (about 600' X 25') that's currently grass(and weeds)in a 95% sunny location. I'm disabled and my husband keeps trying to kill himself by flipping the mower, so I have to get rid of the grass. I'm going to have to pay someone to plant for me, so if I kill off the grass and weeds chemically and wait about a month to begin planting, do you think just cultivating up the ground every couple of feet to plant whatever I put in will work? Do you think the groundcover will establish in the places that were killed off and dead grass remains?

As far as ground cover I was considering Snow in Summer or Irish Moss.

Any comments at all on these many question and rambling thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

I have a steep sunny hill in my backyard, about 45 degrees. Tried grass but had enough of the cursing husband & lawnmower show after awhile.

Tried sedums--roots too shallow, weeds came through, always weeding.

Tried rug juniper--slow growing, weeds between them always needing attention,

Tried ajuga--fried like bacon after one season.

Planted periwinkle--Best bet. It's evergreen and has cute blue flowers in the spring. Where it's thick and established--no weeds.

I suggest starting at the top of your hill. Kill a horizontal strip of grass and honeycomb plant some vinca. Keep it watered and weeded and let the plants start to establish and spread. They'll naturally come down the hill. Each year, clear more of the grass and plant more vinca. Eventually you'll have a thickly established, weed-free hill.

If you try and do this all at once the enormity and expense of the project, combined with the weeding will discourage you.

Hi Amlar,
It has been nearly two years since you posted this request for ground cover ideas. What did you end up using? If you used the vinca I have an additional idea to enhance the starting of new Vinca babies. You can use landscape pins to anchor the Vinca vines to the ground. Where it touches the ground scoot the mulch away so the vince vine touches the ground and anchor it with the landscape pins in several places. It will take root and send up new growth where you
pin it to the ground. I did this under a tree and it worked really well. If you don't want to buy the landscape pins you can make your own by cutting off the last 6" of thin wire coat hangers, out on the ends. With four cuts you can get three landscape pins. One from each tapered end of the hanger and the straight section left in the center can be bent to create pin #3. Is that understandable?
Anyway, I hope you have had success with your hillside and I will check back to see if you can tell us gardenwebbers what you have accompished.
Tina

I know this sounds funny---but I used everbearing strawberry plants on our hill. Wow!!! People stop and look and eat, too... There are constant white blooms and thriving strawberry plants with so many runners.... I never have to worry about losing any top soil...within 2 years the plants were thriving and keeping all of the hillside soil from washing away. And, they are cute looking!!! We all love to eat strawberries now. LOL There are so many berries....and more berries...and all my neighbors pick the berries, too....:)