This low maintenance plant is uncomplicated to grow naturally or prune to desired sizes and shapes. As much as we’d all like a flat landscape around our home, this isn’t always possible. Plant bearberry in full sun for best performance. Using the right kind of plants, helps minimize the water runoff. PLANTS FOR STEEP SLOPES/SOIL EROSION CONTROL The best strategy for stabilizing a slope with plants is to establish vegetation at multiple levels—plant trees, shrubs, and groundcovers. If you found this helpful . The showy characteristics of the burning bush make it a lovely specimen plant for controlling erosion, as well as great hedge shrubs to separate your property from others. Lace shrubs are low growers with a dense, mounding form and ornamental, arching branches. Sweet Flag is also known as Acorus gramineus Variegatus. Resources. Deer resistant and easy to grow fern. The capacity of soil to hold water and nutrients is greatly improved. Your email address will not be published. Plant some coastal trees nearby for extra interest at eye level and above and you can keep erosion under control while adding beauty at the same time. Delivers great Fall and Winter interest in the garden. Foliage is sweetly scented striped with buttery white and green blades. Acts as a host plant. Prairie Winds ‘Totem Pole’ Panicum virgatum is also known as Switch Grass. Height: Although they are about 18 inches their … Both Nootka rose and peafruit or wild swamp rose are excellent choices. Summersweet shrubs grow 5 to 7 feet tall and spread 8 feet across. Tolerates humidity and seaside salt conditions. Foliage is a maple leaf shape that remains over the Summer. Rounded green fruits follow the blooms. Reaches 1 foot tall. In addition to appropriate plant selection, nonplant features such as terracing, boulders and retaining walls may be options to consider. Long blooming ground cover. Reaches 5 to 8 feet tall. Likes part Sun and part shade to full Sun. . Tolerates normal, sandy, or acidic soil conditions. Likes moisture levels that are moist or wet soils. Foliage is attractive all season long. Beneficial for early season nectar for swallowtail butterflies, hummingbirds, and other pollinators. Beneficial for wildlife habitat. Plant in containers. Tackling an erosion problem can be daunting. Likes soil with consistent moisture. Cheyenne Sky Panicum virgatum is also known as Red Switch Grass and Panic Grass. Plants help protect against erosion in several ways. A native fern. This shrub has a four-season interest with light-pink spring flowers, glossy green leaves in the summer, attractive fall foliage, and red berries through the winter. Erosion Control Our collection of tough and hardy plants includes ground-covers, flowering shrubs, and grasses, all specifically targeted at reducing soil erosion and helping revegetation. Plants have been reported to grow well in Zone 5 but with little flowering due to frost damage. Although it is often said that grass might seem to be the best ground cover plants for slopes, however … Include as a water feature or rain garden. Snowberry shrubs grow from 2 to 6 feet tall in an upright fashion. Wild roses are also very good for erosion control. Foliage turns red in autumn. Spread is between 12 to 30 inches wide. Plant in sandy or loamy soil. Vigorous growers with sturdy and robust root systems are ideal choices for challenging slopes, as well as shrubs that are disease and pest resistant. Bearberry is good at erosion control and looks attractive on a slope. Grows in zones 3 to 9. Tolerates sandy, loamy, or clay soil conditions. A native hillside with no erosion. Golden bell is drought tolerant and deer resistant. Many are easy to grow. Native plant with fragrant white flowers on single stalks. Blooms May to June. Wild Blue Phlox is also known as Phlox divaricata or Wild Sweet William. We hope that you create the perfect hilly landscape with shrubs for slopes, and we’d love it if you’d share our slope-friendly shrub guide with your family and friends on Facebook and Pinterest. Tolerant of salt conditions. Almost anything will help. When erosion control plants are diverse and integrated with boulders, the slope becomes a garden all by itself. Home Fires has masses of fragrant, bright-pink blooms. While it seems that gardening on a slope is a nightmare and impossible to do, this is not the case. Best Plants For Slopes On Commercial Properties. Different root depths using little water will tie up the slope, the mulch will stop most surface activity. Variegated Japanese Water Iris is also known as Iris ensata ‘Variegata’. The focus of this post is the erosion control method of using perennial plants to prevent soil loss and slope protection. Other appropriate deciduous shrubs include: Saskatoon serviceberry, snowberry, oceanspray, Pacific ninebark and red-flowering currant. Tolerant of sandy and clay soil conditions. An evergreen ground cover. … Virtually all species and selections of ceanothus are recommended for erosion control. Erosion control plants are one alternative to maintaining healthy garden soil. Plant through the matting. Reaches 10 inches tall. California native plants beautify and strengthen steep slopes. Tolerant of sandy, normal, acidic, or clay soil conditions. Plant in a woodland garden. Compact and tops out between 24 to 36 inches tall. The leaves reduce the amount of rainwater hitting the ground while the roots hold the soil together. The organic material mixed into clay soil will break down the compaction. Herbaceous perennial. Commonly found in rich woodlands. Summersweet, or sweet pepperbush, produces spikes of white flowers with a spicy fragrance that grows out of dark, green foliage. Great Blue Lobelia is also known as Lobelia siphilitica or Blue Cardinal Flower. Blooms are a deep, blue lavender color. Tolerant of salt conditions. Forsythia is low maintenance and needs no pruning to flourish. Serves as a host plant. If your yard is on a slope, you could be losing soil through water and wind erosion. However, getting them established on a slope can be difficult. Gardeners adore this shrub for its fluorescent fall foliage and ornamental berries. Grows in zones 5 to 9. only need a minimum of 12 inches of soil to grow, so they are useful on shallow or rocky slopes. Also, make the rows as level as possible, as this will have the greatest effect on stabilizing the slope. Tolerates loamy, moist or wet soil conditions. Normark Will be happy to help. Erosion gradually decreased on the slope. Water regularly to establish the root system. If you need to bring your soil’s fertility levels back up, erosion control blankets are a better choice. Fronds die back in early Spring. Vinca is considered invasive in some geographical areas. Likes full shade to part Sun and part shade conditions. Planting grass. A mixed planting of native grasses, herbaceous and woody ground covers, shrubs and trees, if space allows, is the best strategy for slope stabilization. A native fern with pale green foliage. It is hardy to USDA zone 3. Blooms are hydrangea-like purple to lavender flowers. Another grassy plant that works very well in the Southeast and is one of the very best erosion control plants for slopes is weeping lovegrass. Foliage has deep green, heart shaped leaves. Soil moisture conditions average, moist to wet, and well draining moisture conditions. It is also known as Canada Ginger, Colic Root, Coltsfoot, Indian Ginger, Namepin and Sturgeon Potato. Professional erosion control products also work on backyard hills. Likes part Sun and part shade to full Sun. Foliage is green with three prong leaves. Over time, the soil left over exposes the roots of plants, drying them out and making them susceptible to disease. Blooms are white airy bottle brush flowers. When plants are established, the roots help anchor the soil. Fortunately, many shrubs are up to the challenge. We always are ready to help you out. Perfect for stabilizing slopes that tend to experience erosion. And as Common Groundsel, Butterweed, Senecio aureus and Senecio gracilis. This ornamental shrub is adaptable to a wide range of conditions, including salt spray, and grows well in part to full sun. Spreads about 12 to 24 inches wide. Foliage is green and golden-striped brightening the garden. Provides Winter interest to the garden with its burgundy colored foliage. Hypericum Calycinum St. John's Wort Hypericum can reach 1 to 2 feet in height. Likes part Sun and part shade to full Sun. Excellent ground cover for low, moist areas. Occasionally water flows may be diverted or checked with erosion control barriers, e.g. Reaches 18 to 24 inches tall and wide. Tiny berries form in early Summer. Reaches 1 to 2 feet tall. It is generally pest-free and has a mature size of 15 to 20 feet tall and full. Over the Summer, the foliage turns gold. Take a look at the areas around the street. Foamflower has white, feathery plumes blooms. Flowers buds are rose pink that open to blush white blooms. Evergreen ground cover. Heavy rain deteriorates sloping soil, often leaving the area barren of plants and grass. Bright yellow flowers appear in spring and early summer when planted in full sun. Grows in zones 4 to 9. This shrub spreads rapidly through rooting stem ends and root suckers and has a mature size of 1 to 2 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Reaches 1 to 3 feet tall. Blooms mid to late Summer. For areas steeper than 3:1, the use of erosion control blankets or flexible growth medium (e.g., Flexterra®) is recommended. Provides Winter interest to the garden. Foamflower is also known as Tiarella cordifolia. Native Plants for Steep Slopes and Erosion Control By gripping the soil with their more extensive roots, certain native plants can do a better job at erosion control than turf grass, especially in shade areas where grass grows poorly. Plants can help control slopes. Tolerates normal, sandy, or clay soil conditions. Leaves shed by trees accumulate on the forest floor and intercept any raindrops that make it through the canopy. Slope stabilization is highly important because an eroded slope can become barren. They hold soil in place and channel water to prevent soil erosion. Likes full shade to part Sun and part shade. A tough plant, bearberry can tolerate poor soil and drought conditions. Flowers are 4 to 7 inches long. Deer resistant. Once you have solved any moisture retention and erosion problems, it is time to evaluate the site further for exposure and zone, and plan what plants grow on slopes. Likes rich, evenly moist, well draining soil conditions. After that, it’s a matter of choosing your new favorite plants. Tolerates full Sun with rich and consistently damp soil conditions. Best in rich, moist and well-draining soils. Golden St. John’s wort will grow in limey or acidic soils. Rockspray cotoneaster grows up to 3 feet in height and 8 feet in width. Reaches 3 to 5 feet high. Grows in zones 3 to 7. Provides shelter and food for songbirds. You may also enjoy some of our other gardening related posts. Plants often bind soil together with their root systems, which means they’re able to serve as a protective layer that can help prevent soil erosion in several ways. 4. It has a broad hardiness range and doesn’t turn up in areas beyond your planting site. Are Erosion Control Bushes Hard to Maintain? Then turns wine red in early Summer. Tops out at 6 inches. Growing plants and shrubs on a slope is a difficult task due to erosion. 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