What kind of weed barrier can I put on a 45 degree hill?

9 years ago

Hi,

What kind of weed barrier can I put on a 45 degree angle hill that slopes down into my back yard?

Basically, I have a 45 degree hill that is 98' L x 20' H, length being from one side of the back yard fence to the other side.

The hill is in full sun all day. I hired a landscaping contractor to put some plants on the hill, and he suggested that I plant blue rug junipers and sergeant junipers and to also put a cloth material weed barrier on the entire hill where there are no plants, and then cover it with pine straw.

The problem is that weeds keep growing in the areas where all the junipers are planted, and I have to walk the hill to pull them out. But now I have this condition:

45 degree hill + cloth material weed barrier + pine straw = very slippery footing.

I have slid down multiple times while trying to stand on the hill pulling the weeds, and each time that I slide down I end up taking all the pine straw down with me and leaving the bare cloth in place.

This has become a maintenance nightmare and it is very unsightly also, as I now have a mix of multiple bare spots showing the cloth material and in other areas I have balls of pine straw where it has slid off the hill and clumped up.

I am trying to figure out if I should replace that cloth material with something else. Here are the ideas that I have so far:

Solution 1:
Remove the pine straw and put mulch - but I am not convinced that this solution will fix the sliding problem down the hill.

Solution 2:
Remove the cloth material and just put mulch. This will make it less slippery, but I am going to get a lot of weeds.

Solution 3:
Replace the cloth material with something else - concrete maybe? (probably expensive).

Solution 4:
Terrace the whole area - will probably cost me a small fortune.

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Comments (3)

User
9 years ago
Jr,
Welcome to my hill, but mine is sandy, has competion of live oak trees, and the soil is terrible.
My hill is steep, hard to get a wheel barrel up, I go at an angle, and for the past 5 years, I have been growing things on it.
I don't use weed cloth. Basically because I could care less about weeds. Sometimes in the morning I will weed, but if you have enough plants, you won't get too many bad weeds.
Your going to slide all over with that stupid weed cloth anyway, and the weeds grow right through it.
From what I have learned, unfortunately the hard way is, Rocks are your friend.
I bought rocks every year for the past 5 years and keep placing them. There is no way I could get that many rocks in my car and do it all in one year.
Plant some tall shrubs, it shelters in rain, and when they grow in, provides a little bit of shade for the other plants.
Use lots of composted cow manure when you plant.
I never rake too many leaves off the hill, only when they are excessive.
I buy the specail mulch from Home Depo, it is shredding for hills, it doens't move in a bad rain storm. It is cypress and says on the bag, Stays Where you put it. It is better than pine straw. I used both, the mulch from HD is better.
I planted these plants,
Daylillies- best hill plants in the world.
St. Johns Wort- must rake leaves around these, they don't like them.
Little Princess spirea- unbelievably hardy.
Boxwood- they anchor things down.
Broom, strong as an ox
Crape myrtle, it won't die.
Vinca
Sedum
Chaste tree, it was growing wild on my front lawn, one of my volunteers, so I put on hill, it is doing alright.
Ornamental grasses, anchors.
My blue rug junipers arent' doing too well, but still alive.
Well, good luck, and have patience, it'll take alot.
LOL!
jrobertsz66
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks for the feedback butterfly4u. Much appreciated...:)

I think i will pull that damned cloth / weed barrier off the hill (there goes 600 dollars), and I like your idea about the rocks very very much. I plan to add rocks to my hill at strategic locations, and eventually, I plan to have enough of them so that I can navigate the hill with a little more ease.

Best regards and thanks for such great advice.

JR
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kitasei
9 years ago
Gee, I wouldn't throw out the landscape cloth. Put your rocks right on. Cut holes in it to put your plants. Lay logs crosswise (set in trenches or anchored by pieces of branches or rebars if you need it) which will make terraces and steps. Don't be discouraged. This can be done cheaply and beautifully if you take your time. (I'm curious where someone lives who has to BUY ROCKS? )