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steep hillside with creeping thyme

18 years ago

Hi,

I think we made a big mistake and I'm wondering if there's a way to fix it short of digging everything up.

Two weeks ago, we planted approximately 50 creeping thyme seedlings plus some pachysandra on a steep hill behind our house. We previously covered the hill with weed block cloth because the plan had always been to use groundcover eventually. Yesterday we had pretty heavy rain, and a lot of the thyme got covered in mud as the water ran down the hill. This didn't happen when the cloth was there. What can we do to prevent the mud from smothering the plants? Unfortunately we didn't really think this through before planting.

Any help would be really appreciated.

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Comments (2)

Carol_Ann
18 years ago
I'm using burlap to help keep soil in place on a slope while my plants take hold. It's a very loose-weave burlap (the holes between the "threads" are about 1/4"). I got a roll of it at a box store in the garden department but you might be able to find a really loose weave burlap at a fabric store for less. It'll eventually decay, the plants can grow over and root through it, and it helps with keeping the soil in place. It's ugly but it's an option. Good luck!
rebc
Original Author
18 years ago
Great idea! Will the burlap keep the water from washing out the plants?

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