Garden on a steep hill - long term cheap cover / ideas

KG_SouthTipp

Hi All,

We live on an acre and have done very little with the garden other than set a lawn that is just way to big to cut, but thats a thread for another day!! The reason for this thread is at the back of the house we have a steep hill that is totally over grown with gorse & ferns and looks awful. Does anyone have an ideas of what I could do with this area that will not cost too much?

It's south facing and approx 40m x 25m

Ideally I would terrace it and plant fruit trees and the rest grass that does not grow very high but I was told I would need retaining walls which would be crazy money.

Thanks for any ideas / advice.

Kieran

mr chips

Hi, you could try hiring a digger for the day and terracing the ground to create broad flat sections (say 6-8 feet wide) and steeper/near-vertical sections stepped one above the other. Probably not a good idea to leave those dug-out banks completely vertical, but if they're at e.g. roughly 60-70 degrees and no more than 1.5 metres high, the ground should be strong enough to hold firm in the short term. NB depending on how overgrown your ground is, you may need to do some clearing before getting the digger in.

To prevent the soil just eroding in the rain over the winter, and to save on the cost of building retaining walls, you can use a mesh like this one or this one or a biodegradable one made of jute or coir to cover and reinforce the "bank" sections. There are versions you can search for whose mesh is formed into pockets for you to sow grass or wildflower seed, the roots of which would hold the clay/soil in place. Also, do a bit of research to find out what plants and shrubs send out deep roots (but which won't go wild or spread uncontrollably!) and plant those into the banks. I think one such might be cotoneaster, but am not totally sure of that. At this time of year you should be able to sow grass and still get it growing before autumn, but you'd need to be quick. Otherwise it might be a project for next March/April.

An alternative to sowing grass could be dwarf chamomile, which doesn't grow much more than 4-6 inches and which gives off a nice scent when you walk on it. You can buy seed packets online - make sure it's the right variety or you'll get shrubs rather than something low-growing to walk on. One version is called Roman chamomile, the other is German - I think the former is for lawns and the latter is the one you use for making tea, but double-check that!

looksee

Its a bit difficult to be helpful without a picture and a bit more information. How steep is the hill and what kind of soil is on it? Years ago we successfully terraced a garden on an almost nil budget but with a lot of work. I'd say it was about (at least) 30 degrees and very sandy apart from a bit of good soil at the very top. We did put in two retaining walls, one at the bottom and one half way up. This was in the days before h&s and regulations, we just laid blocks flat-on to make an approx 1m wall, and it worked fine. Other than that we had levelish bits then sharper slopes with a variety of surfaces - from the bottom it was wall, grass, paving, flower bed, wall, veg garden.

If you can put in one retaining wall - say at the bottom, it gives you lots of scope to bring soil forwards to fill behind it, creating a level space. I would put in slopes not more than 45 degrees and not more than about a meter high, planted with mat forming shrubs, to create a few level areas that you could grass or pave or put meadow flowers on.

Vidcon

Take a look at this for some good ideas.
http://www.garden-design-it-yourself.com/sloping_garden_design.html

KG_SouthTipp

Thanks for the advice and website, I appreciate it. There is about 4 /5 metres of a slope from the back of the house to the top of the site, Its hard to say exactly as it covered in gorse and ferns, see photo attached. The soil is good so I think getting a digger in and making a couple of terraces with an angle that will prevent soil movement would be ideal. No idea what this would cost as the site would need to be cleared first.

Any idea how to remove Gorse?

looksee

That looks like a nice site KG. Good bit of work but not impossibly steep. I think you would need to spray a couple of times to get rid of the gorse, it needs to be gone completely as it is very enthusiastic to come back. Bracken needs to be thoroughly cleared too.

Spray with a systemic weedkiller, let the gorse die back then leave it for a while to see does any of it come back, I think you will need 2 sprays. I have been watching someone with a very similar situation getting rid of the gorse. The stems and roots will need to be pulled out then you could do a bit of terracing. I agree that you could probably do some gentle terracing with a digger, though if you are in doubt you should get an engineer to have a look at it.

I think you would need ground cover/low shrubs mostly, putting in fruit trees would not be very practical - how would you keep grass and weeds down around them? Things like cotoneaster horizontalis, st john's wort (hypericum hidcote), vinca. There are some good suggestions here https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=834 though I would personally not plant ivy (hedera). The other suggestion might be a wild flower meadow which would only need to be strimmed once a year (end of summer after seeds have fallen).

KG_SouthTipp

Thanks Looksee, The wild flower meadow might be the winner as I want a low maintenance area as I have 3/5 of an acre in the front of the house. I have a decking area to go in at the back of the house (see pic)so I really only want something that looks well but little work. Will do a strip of grass parallel to the decking for the kids. I thought I would plant fruit trees as its southfacing but have plenty of room for that in the front garden. I wanted a good solid plan and the heavy work done before I attempt the decking then I can tip away at it over the years!

macraignil

I don't agree the hill looks awfull. The gorse and ferns look very natural. I would think that clearing the slope and making terraces could be a lot of work. I'd be more inclined to clear a few spaces for some trees and strong growing shrubs. The pattern you plant in would be up to your own taste in what plants look good. It's not easy to judge the distance from the house at different points of the slope and trees that grow bigger would need to be planted further from the house. I'd consider a row of photonia red robin near the house and maybe silver birch further up the slope.

zagmund

I agree with the last poster, I don't think the hill looks awful at all. I think it looks nice. You know . . . natural and stuff, but that's just me (and the last poster).

I had a bit of a monster garden to clear in recent years, which could be compared in some ways to your area. I approached it bit by bit and cleared and planted relatively small parts of it each year. That way it was manageable because I didn't just end up with the whole thing needing maintenance 12 months after it went in. After a while the more mature areas just settled in and didn't require too much other than the occasional prune.

I put in raised beds over a portion of it. They work quite well on the slope and give different working heights as you go down the slope.

z

looksee

I agree the hillside looks nice however there are a couple of things to consider. The main one is that as long as there is gorse it will spread and eventually will take over the hillside. The other is that there are suggested links between bracken and cancer. This should not be blown out of proportion, it is by no means proven but it is something to keep in mind. Also bracken looks nice in summer but in other seasons looks very scruffy.

Also, of course, the OP does not like the look of it, and since he is the one who will be living with it, if he wants it changed, then that is what the advice should offer.

macraignil

From what I have read trees do in nature out grow gorse.

I thought my post did offer a change to the hillside even if it might be more gradual than options others would prefer.

KG_SouthTipp

Hi Guys,
Many thanks for your interest and advice. The hillside does look well now and when the gorse flowers it has a lovely vibrant yellow which looks super. Its the rest of the year when the fern dies off that you are left looking at a brown stalks and the gorse. I have noticed the gorse is taking over a lot and that is one of the reasons I want to tackle the garden and create a long term plan. I like the idea of terrace but I might be creating way too much work as the whole garden / site is 1 acre so low maintenance is the key!! I might try and clear the lower half plan some trees as suggested and create a wild flower garden. Thanks again. KG