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i have an area about 10 feet from the back of my home. this area runs in a step upward grade about 8 feet and is about 60 feet wide. not sure what is exactly growing there right now and there are some exposed areas that show some shale type rock. this area or at lest 75% receives alot of sun. what i want to accomplish is a very inexpensive way is place a very fast growing/sreading ground cover and would like to do so with something that stays all year. i live in the south western area of PA.
any help/info would be great.
There are a lot of fast growing ground covers for your hill. Vinca vines do well on a slope you could add in some hostas as they look nice on a slope and after a couple of years of growth you can split each hosta plant in 4 and spread them out on the slope. The vincas vines can be rooted along the stems by covering a part of the stem with soil and then after the roots grow you can cut the stem off the mother plant and plant it I had the vinca vines growing on a slope when I lived in Staten Island NY which is pretty much the same zone as you are in.
Good luck and welcome to Gardenforums.
stella d oro daylilies might work and add tons of color
crowned vetch (Is that what it's called?)
is growing on the slope between mine and my neighbors house..it has stayed all year and seems to spread very quickly
The problem is that there is a very fine line between a fast growing ground cover and an invasive ground cover. Vinca does spread quickly and there are some really nice variegated varieties on the market, too. However, my siblings and I spent a large part of our youth pulling vinca or periwinkle as we called it, every time we got in trouble. Mom would assign us X number of sidewalk squares, depending on the severity of the offense, and we had to clear out all the periwinkle from around the azaleas in that area. Maybe it grows better here in the south, but I would think about how invasive any ground cover could be.
I like Kya's suggestion of Stella D'Ora daylilies, a lot of stores offer them very cheaply this time of year to get folks into their plant departments. You could start with a few and seed a hardy annual flower like cosmos or old timey vining petunias until the daylilies fill in.
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You do have a very large area to cover!
Ivy and ivy type perennials would be high maintainance when established and will not tolerate a full sun exposure!
There is no quick fix coverage unless you go with ornamental grasses! Even then you will not have compleate coverage in a year!
The best bet is to cover the area with a layer of mulch such as shredded ceddar bark so you can stop any errosion!
Then you can take your time to plant various ground covers to create a colorful display!
Here's a good list of perennials:
http://www.gardening-tips-perennials.com/groundcovers-for-sun.html
For dry soil:
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/garden/07230.html
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