HILLSIDE STABILITY USING PLANT MATERIAL | HOW TO and What Plants to Use

[@YardCoach]

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[@pc0086]

Exactly what I need!! We are moving to a lake house, but has a hill to go down to the lake. Been worried about the erosion... thank you coach!

[@YardCoach]

Here if you need me..thx for watching..

[@pc0086]

​@YardCoach thanks coach! What do you think to install DirtLock system before planting?

[@pc0086]

I'm planning to create a colorful ground cover types of juniper to dress up the hillside and add interest when people look at to our property from the other side of the lake.

[@cherylinutica]

Hi Coach, I just found your KZbin site and I am so impressed. We live on a lake with a slight hill not huge but a slight hill I have planted 100 daisies in that that was a bomb. I planted grasses that went to seed and everything looked like it was a weed bed, so last year we pulled everything out and my husband covered it with cardboard and mulch. I’m in a mess because I don’t know what to do with this hill. But I love the suggestions and landscaping you’re showing on your site and I love mixing and matching things. I have an expansive flower garden in the backyard like a country garden but this hill I just need something on there low maintenance. I’m 75. I do not want to be cutting things all the time or Trimming, I’m trying to get a list of shrubs and plants.We are in zone 6a Ashley east facing property and I probably have about 30 x 20 ft space that is a hill .

[@YardCoach]

@cherylinutica Hi Cheryl, sounds like a challenge on your hands. If you want to send me a few pics of the area and I will see what I can help you with plant wise and maybe more. Coach.

[@donaldreger3895]

This was the best video I have seen for hillsides, Thank You!! I recently bought 10 acres that have a natural "valley" down the middle where I will be putting in a 1 or 2 acre pond, depending on the slope when we start construction. There will definitely be some bare hillside where we remove material for the dam. Right now the hillsides are grown up from an old pasture so they are stable but that will change with construction.

[@YardCoach]

Glad it was helpful!

[@silverbackag9790]

Put a gentle slope on that dam…or you will be like me and buying a $30k Ventrac after paying $3k to have trees pulled.

[@saulmiranda623]

Excellent! Thank you from North Jersey!

[@joycezhang2642]

So much information, really helpful, appreciate your explanation a lot!

[@YardCoach]

Thank you. Hope I earned a sub.

[@banderaitaly]

Amazing video. Found just in time as I work on a smaller slope that the wind goes over. Thinking on grasses, dwarf conifers, red twig dogwoods and drift roses for the choices. Will fill in the gaps with some coneflowers or baptisia. I was reading baptisia has deep roots.

[@YardCoach]

Hope it works for ya. Pics please. Thx for the comment and I wish you landscape success. Coach.

[@sf2studios]

Thank you so much for this information. We just moved into a new house with a very steep hill that looks like it needs stabilization. We get 60+ inches of rain (and landslides) here in southeast Alaska so I appreciate that you suggested immediate fixes while planning the long term solutions. Now on to learning all about French drains!

[@YardCoach]

I’m glad you found it useful. Any help I can offer let me know. Coach M.

[@hgiambra8367]

Enjoy your videos content and great advice. Currently redeveloping an abandoned garden. Despite the challenges, only doing one area at a time. One small hill to tackle and watching your video was informative. Especially appreciate the PDRE; Plan, Design, Research, Execute advice. TY, Heather in GA

[@YardCoach]

Thx for the kind words. Glad you got something useful. Here for you as needed. Coach.

[@SeniorLady]

Thanks, Coach, I appreciate your information and your style! My hillside is a 5' tall 3:1 berm that runs about 250' across my backyard that builders piled up there in 1990. it is populated with tumbleweeds, pigweed, etc. that I have to pull several times a year (which is aggravating because that disturbs the hill). My hillside isn't eroding from rainfall as much as from blowing wind in this zone 7 high desert location (and my weeding). I'm planning on using various sizes of ornamental grasses (5' tall and less) to boost privacy, a few shrubs & perennials, and snaking throughout will be honeysuckle and star jasmine vines as 'stand-ins' for ground cover because I'm on a well system and have just 2 irrigation circuits available, which can only water 12 plants per 200sq.ft. using drip irrigation (couldn't get full coverage with sprinklers). I think I have a layout that looks good (on paper), but I'm going back and forth on whether I should use mulch overall or just around the root zones. And I go back and forth between shredded wood or 1" gravel as mulch. The 'soil' is dry, dry sand (Normally, we get about 9" of rain a year, but we haven't seen that in several years now). I may try both mulches and see how it goes, and I'll just plant a small section to see how the plants fare before taking on the whole berm. I am struck by the thought that water is everything. Too much and we get erosion. Too little and we get erosion. And the solution? It takes water. Thanks again. I'm off to watch your video about prepping the soil for planting.

[@YardCoach]

Hello, this sounds, as you write it, as a difficult project. Might I suggest a few pics of the area sent to my email so I can have a better idea and visual of what you have to face. There are solutions for you. Let me know. Email is in every episode. Regards, Coach Matt.

[@Iam_KGray]

This was incredibly helpful

[@art9849]

Excellent video I bought a house with 40/45 degree slope have to wear cleats for planting started at the top with a row of 5 Allepo pine and some medium size trees in the middle taking your advice on ground cover and annuals 😅

[@YardCoach]

Thanks for watching. That is a very steep hillside!!

[@mcassidy2023]

Nice video- great information…thank you!

[@YardCoach]

Thank you. Hope you got something useful from it. Coach Matt.

[@rockdracula8242]

thank you for not cussing

[@lynnpedersen8266]

Thanks. I recently purchased a house with a steep slope to the alley in my backyard. I don't have the cash for a retaining wall right now so I think plants will be my answer. It's not eroding but it's very difficult to mow. I've maybe got a 5 or 6 foot high slope.

[@YardCoach]

Have a master plan of the final landscape, without a wall. Then clear and plant in stages as your resources allow. It will look great when you are done. Good luck. Here to help as needed. Coach.

[@walkerlamebrain]

WOW thank you for this video!!! Finally found an expert who prefers plants on a hillside, which I love & prefer myself. I'm sharing this with my "old fashion" spouse, he thinks a retaining wall is the only option 😖😵‍💫🙄 I told him "yeah right, boomer" 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♀️😆😆😆😆😆

[@YardCoach]

LOL 😆. Compromise and use some boulders and plants. Get the best of both worlds.

[@randyland1000]

Thanks

[@trishferrer8209]

I love this video content! I have a steep slope from the far edge of my front yard down to the street. How in the world would you be able to prune or snip back the roses in a place like that? I don't see that happening at all, but the roses you are showing are BEAUTIFUL, and I would love to see them on the "horrible hill". Lol

[@YardCoach]

The HH! I love it. You can also cut horizontal paths across a hill for ease of maintenance shrub rose mixed with ground cover can be very pretty. But shrub rose will look best if you cut it back at least once a year.

[@tguthrie1121]

I am in southwest New Mexico, with a hill behind my trailer in a rural area. Very rocky, and clay soil .

[@YardCoach]

How can I help?

[@Inkling777]

A suggestion. I found it impossible to get grass to grow on a couple of short slopes on my residential lot. One was so steep, I used landscaping blocks to level it completely. For the other I used just enough blocks to reduce the slope to something more manageable. For one, I used regular Mondo grass, freely available from a nearby wood. That tended to get a bit tall and gangly, so for the other I used dwarf Mondo grass, which maintains a more uniform height. Both have a major benefit. Their root systems are so dense, they choke out weeds. Remove stray weeds for a couple of years, and they become almost maintenance free.

[@aok2727]

I have a steep front yard in Southern Oregon. A lawn was removed by a previous owner but instead of terracing or building a retaining wall, they added rock (like what is used for road beds 1”. Later owners covered it with bark mulch. I am considering either a mass planting or “Dirt Lockers”. It’s not at risk of erosion that I can tell but it’s ugly

[@YardCoach]

Thanks for the comment. Much appreciated. Is it feasible to rake n scrape and start over? Coach.

[@aok2727]

@@YardCoach it’s possible and once I have a good plan for planting, I will likely go for it

[@YardCoach]

@aok2727 there ya go!!! Here as needed for ya.

[@andylandry5062]

Coach what is your perspective on the Dirt Locker product as a solution to erosion?

[@YardCoach]

Personally I have never used it. The concept is interesting and seems viable. I believe it is an expandable composite/cloth material.

[@aafamilyfarms4412]

We are in zone 10 and have only morning sunlight before noon. It is 30 degrees slope and pretty high like 20 feet high. We are looking for something that's colorful during summer months with nice fragrance. Please suggest what are our best options. Thank you very much.

[@YardCoach]

Wow you have so many choices. Look for Gardenia, bush honeysuckle, choisya, star jasmine, osmanthus, rose cap fuchsia, and for foliage color consider coprosma, euphorbia, Asclepius, salvia, shrub rose, sasanqua camellia, cape plumbago, lantana. Now some of these will do better with MORE direct sun, but your local nursery should have local selections.

[@TDace25]

I am needing to transplant a couple of lilac bushes. Have some room on a slope in my yard. How do they do on slopes?

[@YardCoach]

They will be fine. Provided you have plenty of rootball. A little root stimulant or light feeding about 3 days prior helps. Starter fertilizer for transplant hole and soil.

[@breannasharp7933]

This was extremely helpful! How would you suggest starting fresh on a slope that’s about 45 degrees but only 4 ft tall, covered in dandelions, clover, some poison ivy and other invasive weeds native to southern Indiana, without laying down weed barrier? Send spraying weed killer would ruin the soil and inhibit new plants.

[@YardCoach]

Hi Breanna, hope your long weekend is going well. Thanks for the Q. Without spraying, which I understand I think manual demo would be the call. For the poison ivy garb up, glove up and use tools. Scrape it down and haul off. How is the soil under all of it? Plantable? Maybe a boulder wall and pocket planting as an end game?

[@robertawestbrooks9531]

I live in Clarksville, Tennessee, zone 7, it can get very cold in the winter. I just want to put steps for me to get down there.

[@YardCoach]

Hey Roberta, Thanks for the comments. Would you do the stairs yourself or hire somebody. Icy steps in the winter?

[@DianeMcgowan-ps8qc]

What about daylily plants for erosion problems? You might have to deal with the deer, but don't they just want to eat the blooms? Or will they pull the entire plant out of the ground? I see them along highways- is that for erosion control? I live off the side of a mountain in Blairsville GA and have erosion issues in the back and side yard. But I also have LOTS of daylilies. Thought I might divide daylilies from my leveled front yard and put some on the backyard hill. . .

[@YardCoach]

Hey Diane, love the Blairsville area, been there a few times. I think daylilies is a start in conjunction with other small shrubs and perennials. Just nice to have evergreen plants when the daylily go to 💤 in the winter.

[@hollylc9914]

I have 2 narrow strip of daylilies & creeping phlox down the side of my house (steps put inbetween). They did well until the neighbor's landscaper redirected their runoff thru it, compacting the soil as well during the project. Arg. Anyhow, creeping bellflower moved in the next year which has helped restabilize the slope. Although it's generally pretty invasive, the critters keep it in check and eat it first before the daylilies. Bonus, the purple bellflowers look gorgeous with peach daylilies. Last season, I started shrub roses as well in between. I'll put in U rock or straw burms this year to tier the slope better. Thanks for the tips, Coach!

[@joshdehart6975]

Geo mesh works wonders on steep slopes .

[@YardCoach]

Yes it can as an initial stabilzation approach. Are you referring about the plastic nylon type or the rope style? Thx for the comment.

[@davidw6958]

Whats your opinion on this. I've got a steep, west side hill in zone 6. Roughly 3 hours of direct evening sun. Thinking Barrenwort and Coralbells. What's your thoughts? It's a roadside. Rocks, clay and some soil

[@YardCoach]

Those are good choices. Coral bells are readily available I don’t know about epimedium or barrenwort vailability except on line. Make some larger than average holes for success insurance. Hardy ferns as well. Good luck.

[@davidw6958]

@YardCoach thank you very much for the reply. This gives me reassurance that I'm on the right path

[@shannoncrawford9900]

What about annual rye seed and perennial fescue seed on a narrow pathway with a sloped edge? It's probably 45' long by 3.5' wide. Pathway is newly made with old clay from a dirt pile, added 3-4" of top soil on slope and top of pathway with flagstone pavers. Really would appreciate any advice or approval.

[@YardCoach]

Hey Shannon. Thanks for watching and the Q. If I understand you the hillside will be covered in this grass? I would say go for it and let it grow out shaggy. Kind of hard to mow suck an angle every week. Email me a pic so I can get a better idea. Your [e-mail]

[@robertawestbrooks9531]

Our back yard has a down grade, its it's really hard for me when I am walking down and walking up.

[@blacklegacyassets]

Me too

[@francoisgs1]

got a slope with very soft soil and have an issue with bamboo running through from my neighbour. I will dig all bamboo roots out and place a root barrier along the land separation to avoid the bamboo to come back but am looking at plants that could be yearly through heat and cold , snow and provide sufficient coverage to hold ground, and avoid weeds but also provide colours with flowers for bees and small maintenance . Am looking at Thym, rosmarin , lavender any other recommendation . the slope is facing the whole afternoon the sun , windy and last am based in Italy with four seasons , thanks

[@YardCoach]

Not a fan of bamboo, especially fighting someone else’s bamboo. Hope the battle tips in your favor. I love hillside plantings, working on my own this year. I’m assuming there is a grow zone in your area, like we have here in the states. Check that first. Second find a local nursery they will have plant material suitable to your area. Third, creeping thyme is a good choice, along with its cousins wooly and lemon. Lavender May struggle depending on snow load and winter temps. Rosemary as well. Look for creeping manzanita, if it is available. Also, think Dwarf fruit trees are good choices. Almost any perennial flower will work like coreopsis, daylily, echinacea, salvia, Veronica, etc. let me know how the hunt goes. Coach.

[@francoisgs1]

Thanks will surely review your plants proposal. I did plant some creeping rosemary and it not only survived but strive;)) for the bamboo roots I am going to attack with a small excavator to really go down a foot to two feet and clear all then rest the surface and add roots barriers at my neighbour and cross my fingers;)) I also try to minimise maintenance with lesser weeds as much possible! Thanks again greatly appreciated once complete will share the work :))

[@largefarva4712]

What about using dirt lockers?

[@YardCoach]

I have never used them but have seen reviews and appear to a solid alternative.

[@EilandMeisje85]

Hello. What about hills we can’t walk on bc the slope is too steep? I can’t dig a flat part.

[@YardCoach]

What is growing there now?

[@EilandMeisje85]

@@YardCoachnothing at the moment. We had to remove the incredibly invasive ivy as It wasn’t growing down but instead was encroaching on our backyard, and up our very large pine. We’ve been here for 18 years and it was planted by the owners prior to us. We are also dealing with invasive smilex. Not sure if that was planted or over the years was transplanted by wildlife. They probably weren’t able to plant in the way you explained it should be done. So they started at the top and it crept inward, across, up but never down 😢. We are now working on that area which is the end of the property where we will be planting a shrub privacy border but while they grow we want to maintain its integrity. I just scratched the surface a bit a few days ago and laid wildflower seed since it said we can in my region in October and I have plans on reseeding again in spring but the soil is poor and jagged and filled with grass clippings, so my fingers are crossed when it comes to the actual success rate. It’s GA red clay. Sorry I know that was long explanation to your very simple question. 😂

[@YardCoach]

If you would like to can you email me a pic or two of the area so I can offer a more informed answer? Got to love GA red clay!

[@EilandMeisje85]

@@YardCoachok I would love to. I may not get to get some pictures and send them until tomorrow. Thank you so much.

[@brendafain9962]

Hi coach. I just found your channel and I could really use your help. My front yard is eroding and the water is coming from the street. There is a slight hill on our street and when it rains my yard is getting soaked. Are you the pro I need? Please reach out and maybe I can send you pics of the yard. I'm in Georgia. TFS. Hope I hear from you.

[@YardCoach]

Hey Brenda, You are not the first to complain of such a situation like what you have. If you send some pics to the YC email I can help out as much as I can. Email is in every episode. Thanks. Coach Matt

[@j7bsecond540]

Ty

[@SvetlaNikolova-sk3ot]

Question. What tree will go good with blueberries?

[@YardCoach]

Something small,and acid loving. Small evergreens, Maples, and the like. Not too big to cause a shade shadow. Thx for watching. Coach.

[@SvetlaNikolova-sk3ot]

@@YardCoach thank you.

[@denitadevereux7724]

Wanted to know if you can give me some ideas for my hillside if I can send you pictures of my yard, I really need some help 😊

[@YardCoach]

Send me an email Denita and let’s see what we can do. Let me know what zone you are in and what conditions are unique to your project.

[@glendas2906]

What zone are you in?

[@YardCoach]

4 now. 9a before.

[@dgomes265]

Our slope in Toronto Canada has Lilly of the valley but English Ivy has taken over the slope and is attacking everything. Not certain which is better for soil stability We also have an issue where the elm trees grow and then die.

[@YardCoach]

Attack the Ivy with a vengeance. Although I have not heard of English Ivy that far north.

[@mariap.894]

Here is a challenge: Could you help me create an edible hillside retainer wall??? any ideas? I live in South Florida 🏝 I thank you very much in advance ❤😊

[@YardCoach]

Hi Maria, the retaining wall itself would have to be created from hardscape materials like block, concrete, wood, metal etc. But once completed and regrading is complete the greenscape can be a whopping combination of perennial creeping herbs like thyme, basil, oregano then dwarf citrus, and annual edibles. Then there is the tropical that can be maintained low through selective pruning. Ginger, borage, moringa, etc. would be a fun project for sure. Let me know what you do. Coach Matt.

[@mariap.894]

@YardCoach Wow! You've opened up my eyes to lots of possibilities!!! I'm super grateful for that imput. It's a small space, but it's about a 30°slope, and it's 3 years, 3 different garden designs, and every time, nature wins the fight. I'm out of work and limited $, so that's why I'm asking for help. I'm really very happy with all your kind help. Best of luck with all you do and thanks again for your help🙏❤️👋😊🍀

[@wordswritteninred7171]

We think a muddslide is a lose for Mother Nature.. I think it's mother nature saying it's time for renovations. Only us humans think things should stay the same unless WE want it to change. Mother nature reserves the right to relocate springs and rivers and yes, even hillsides. Doesn't mean it's a lose. Maybe it's time to create different habitats or environments. It's nature's perogative. Not reserved just for humans.

[@YardCoach]

Anywhere Anytime she does what she wants. All we can do is mitigate what we can and be aware of where we live and our surroundings. Thx for the comment. Coach.

[@robertawestbrooks9531]

Correct you are....

[@anthonyburke5656]

One word: Vetiver

[@denitadevereux7724]

30058

[@leokno2144]

So many of your plants are invasive. Ivy is so bad here in NC. Dogs and kids don’t usually eat poison plants.

[@YardCoach]

That is why I said Needlepoint ivy. The invasivemess usually comes from inattention on ownership part. Thx for watching.

[@Vault-Born]

horrible VIDEO. why would we watch a video abt hillside gardening to see no VIDEO FOOTAGE of hillside gardening?

[@YardCoach]

Thanks for watching. Anything positive to contribute?

[@kekica11]

@@YardCoach 👌Classy response to an unnecessary and ignorant comment. I found the video extremely helpful, and it addressed exactly what I've been looking for: hillside retention...as the title suggests 😉 Thank you for sharing these methods in such detail - it's much appreciated.

[@YardCoach]

@kekica11 thank you. Small mind response.

[@Vault-Born]

its not the responsibility of strangers to compliment you or your work. bizarre entitlement@@YardCoach

[@YardCoach]

Never asked anybody to do so.

[@AthSamaras]

BLA BLA BLA...

[@YardCoach]

Thx for watching.