The idea of a large shrub line at the foreground seems like the wrong way to go, IMO. The foreground is where I'd keep the lower material (groundcover mainly and any low flowering perennials). Additional trees there would be OK, too, if desired, as they'd be limbed up and permit a view beyond. If there was going to be a big shrub line, it would be better at the top of the hill, in the distance, where you wouldn't need to keep it pruned and could still enjoy its beauty. Pretty things do not need to be right under one's nose.

There are no plants you install that will go after weeds and scrub and overcome them. You'll need to clear that out first and maintain it out. Once mulch is installed and groundcover becomes established, and there is tree shade overhead, weeds will be easier to keep under control. Since it's a large area, you'll need a groundcover capable of succeeding in a large area. See what others are using in similar sized areas in your locale.

I agree any large shrubs would be set back from the front, but from your comments, maybe planting them even further up on the hill might be a better approach. Its hard to get ideas in the neighborhood as I have a unique piece of property in terms of the size of the hill.

I would give serious consideration to maintaining the entire hillside as a flowering meadow beneath the trees. It would be easier and cheaper to work with nature here than try to impose a more structured landscape on this. The deer would be photogenic in that kind of setting.

Making a flowering meadow is actual gardening and will require knowing the plants, how to encourage the ones you want and discourage those you don't. Eventually you get to a stable point where an annual mowing and the non-ending picking up of the sticks is all that needs doing.

You can also plant specimen ornamental trees and shrubs directly in a meadow. Those don't get cut down once a year.

But doesn't an annual mowing of that big hill seem like a chore to dread? It would to me. I'd rather shoot the occasional weed with round-up from a back-pack sprayer once or twice a year.

I'd rather shoot the occasional weed with round-up from a back-pack sprayer once or twice a year.

Yeah right Yardvaark. That's all it takes, a little squirt here and there to plant and maintain a 120' long hillside covered in groundcovers, shrubs and small trees with a forest overhead. It's so easy, just like with that magic garden fairy in a bucket Preen.

People can and do hire out garden chores like weekly and annual mowings.

Obviously in the beginning weeds have to be eradicated and controlled. Bare ground needs to be mulched. But it is not impossible, or all that difficult, to cover the bulk of this hillside with the right groundcover. That said, I'm not really opposed to your idea, Christopher, of meadow and annual mowing. The work of it wouldn't be for me, though I think the result of it would be fine on someone else's property. The OP just needs to decide the look they're after (and it sounds like they could go for "meadow") and the maintenance they're willing to do.

I did read your comment as someone who has spent a great many hours attached to a mower and weed whacker and knows well what he dreads. For me, the annual mulching of a steep planted hillside is far more dreadful than a few hours with a weed whacker.

Definitely two very different looks and the OP does have to decide what will work best for them.

Thank you for replying.

What's involved in a wildflower meadow. This is actually something that I think would look nice there.

Any suggestion for fast spreading flowering ground cover for the large band down by wall? Its maybe 10-15 ft by 100ft long. I want to get that in asap.. Thanks

"... Many hours attached to mower and weed whacker..." Not me!! Not into noise.

I would never do annual mulching. After the initial mulching, groundcover eliminates the need for more, unless it is a light, spot touch-up.

What's involved in a wildflower meadow? The extremely brief version is: Mowing, paths, editing and in your case, picking up sticks.

A 100' long solid band of single groundcover above the wall and a wild flower meadow don't really mix. I suppose you could do that and maintain a meadow on the less steep ground up top.

Some questions. How much of this hill is yours? Where is the property line? What direction is the slope facing? The shadows could make it E, W or N. It is not south facing which would give it the most sun. N facing the least. That will make a difference in groundcover choices.

@yardvaark @Christopher C Nc

Thanks for your responses. I think as i understand the amount of work needed on the hill, i think have put too much in the original post, without really thinking it thru. I am going to repost with more specifics. Thanks and appreciate you input

FYI, I nabbed this pic off of Google Images. It looks so exactly like what I lived next door to, and part of my yard when I lived in Atlanta area, that I wouldn't be surprise if it came from my camera! Since it's English Ivy, it requires shade in order for it to be this weed-free with no or very little effort from the homeowner. Up the hill, where the shade was slightly less dense, I had to spend time getting rid of weeds that towered over the ivy. But it was not difficult. I'm not saying Ivy is the answer to your problems, Mcmahonvincent. I'm illustrating the scheme of groundcover on a slope. Where you have more sun, a different groundcover could be happening. Some groundcovers for large scale can be seeded. Lespediza comes to mind.

(In my own yard and along the one-lane street, I chose not to let ivy climb the trees. This took about an hour per year to maintain.)

I have a slope similar in size to yours, also with trees and also in lower NYS. Here is what I did. I laboriously removed perennial weeds - honeysuckle, creeping euonymus, multiflora rose, dock, thistles, onion grass and dandelions. Then I laid cardboard or sheets of newspaper, wettted them, and covered with wood chips (obtained free from arborists). The next season I planted a variety of groundcovers and shrubs, like lowbush blueberries from Putnam County's plant sale (open to nonresidents). The paper and chip mulch works so well that even a sunny slope has very few weeds to pull after three years. Where groundcovers like sedum, geranium, juniper, ferns, daylilies have filled in, there is virtually no weeding. I have never had to spray, remulch or weed whack.

Kitasei, that sounds great. Can you show a picture of it?