I had to laugh when I read your write-up on the hillside forum - I have just about an identical situation. I'm not sure I can tell you what to do, but I can tell you some things NOT to do. First of all, mulch - we learned the hard way that pine bark mulch is a disaster on the hillside - it just rolls and slides down the hill to the bottom. Hardwood mulch, on the other hand, still allows a lot of weeds - and weeding on the hillside isn't fun! I'd recommend pine straw or a cypress-type mulch - there are some varieties on the market that are environmentally OK.

Try to find plants that choke out weeds. We've had a lot of success with plantings of thrift or phlox. They eventually form huge mats that are spectacular in the spring time. There are also some nice groundcover sedums. The deer don't seem to touch either.

We don't have all groundcover stuff on our hill - we have various structural plantings - shrubs, lavender, perovskia, siberian and bearded iris. And of course, the deer don't touch daffodils.

Good luck! Let us know what you come up with!

If you plant daylilies close enough together as in about 12-18 inches apart, you can drastically cut down on the weeds. They will also slow down any mulch being washed down the hill.

You could also go with some shrubs that take up larger amounts of space. Bottlebrush buckeye is very attractive. The green liarope is almost vigorous enough to push out Johnson grass. Siberian Iris and some hardy hibiscus would definately hold the ground on a hillside.

Janet

I agree, mulch doesn't work. I have a steep sunny hill that is too far from the house to water. It is covered in german bearded iris, tall sedum, daylilies, lavendar, ornamental grasses, gaillardia and rudbeckia. The spaces between plants are covered with low growing sedum. Every 2-3 months, I throw some Preen on it to keep the weeds from sprouting. That is the extent of my work with it and it looks beautiful.