sundance said:
We have a steep hill behind our house and since its middle Tennessee, its covered in rocks(they reproduce overnight), and clay, what can i plant that will grow fast and cover the hill as well as crowd out the weeds,I was thinking crown vetch, but have never tried it,suggestions anyone?
Hm, is this a
natural slope with clayey soil and lots of healthy lush weeds growing there... or is it somewhere that's been cut into with a bulldozer, exposing pure clay/rock subsoil, with just a thin cover of desperate weeds hanging on?
If it's a cut that's exposed the subsoil, you could *try* crown vetch, which would be the highway department approach (be aware that crown vetch has become a noxious naturalized weed in some areas, check locally before planting). But in the long run you might have better results if you could rig a way to either a) cut further back so the slope is shallower, then add topsoil; b) terrace the slope with one or more retaining walls (which would almost have to be professionally built, since holding back a steep clay slope is NOT a do it yourselfer) or c) rig a way to try to get some soil going there. I have heard of people putting down a thick layer of compost, covering it with trellis type netting held down well with landscape staples or rocks or what have you. I have no actual personal experience with how well this would work though.
Junipers (the creeping kinds) would grow reasonably well on an exposed clay slope as long as you could keep 'em in place til their roots establish and prevent them eroding out... but you'd want to pick fast-spreading varieties and plant somewhat den$ely, and even then I wouldn't describe them as a speedy ground cover. Do you by any chance have a source elsewhere on the property, or on a relative's property, for LOTS AND LOTS of small forsythia runners or some other shrub that would tolerate the conditions?
If OTOH it is a natural slope with 'real' (albeit clayey) soil on it, and a relatively thick growth of weeds, you have a lot more options. But, actually, what
is growing there now? Your best bet would actually be to try to 'tame' the existing vegetation, either by just weeding out the kinds you don't want, or by trying to replant with tame cultivars of what's there. Like, if it is mostly goldenrod, by far the simplest solution is to call it 'the goldenrod patch' and just do a little trimming and weeding to make it more presentable
Hard for me to make any more specific suggestions without knowing a little more about what exactly the site is like, sorry.
Good luck,
Pat
