mulching steep banks

[cj7]

I have a couple of banks that are too steep to mow. right now they have the usuall anything that grows there coverage. I would like to not have to weedwack them anymore. The soil is mostly clayish. Ground cover is an option I suppose but I would like a "finished look" while it grows. So. Should I just mulch as is and plant ground cover? Or, lay fabric then mulch and plant? If the later how does the ground cover find soil to grom in when it spreds? Also how thick should I lay the mulch? Do I need any type of retainage along the bottom or will the mulch pretty much hold up?

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[riptides]

Yes, use some decent fabric for weed control BEFORE you mulch. Weeds and unwanted stuff will be easier to deal with
when they show up, and they WILL show up.

Depending on the slope, your weather conditions, you may not need landscaping ties to hold stuff back, even mulch.

They have some pretty interesting type of mulch these days,
large, small, chips, shreds, bulk, bag.... you can get some pretty cool looking landscaping by variation.

-Good Luck
-Mike Z.

 

[cj7]

So. Does the ground cover just grow into the Mulch?

I know that when you plant it you plant into the soil under the fabric.

 

[Alan L.]

I have some steep "draws" that lead into the creek. Some have had dumping of trash in them. I plan to use 6" to 12" rip rap and just dump in there on top of whats there. Maybe keep it rounduped later on.

 

[rmorgan]

Won't mulch just float down the hill as soon as there is a decent rain? Most of it seems to actually float as soon as there's much water . . . I'd sure want to look for a mulch which was as fine as possible, ie not simply bark. There is a shredded rubber mulch product which is supposed to hold pretty well, but if you got a good groundcover rolling it'll spread faster than you expect, even in clay; crown vetch comes to mind if you don't mind a somewhat untidy look, also ajuga spreads quite quickly if it has good sun . . . we put in a couple of flats around our waterfall this spring and it's really taken off. Both look great when they bloom.

 

[Mosey]

"Won't mulch just float down the hill as soon as there is a decent rain?"

I was thinking the same thing. I have mulch around some white spruce trees that are on a slope that's only about 5 degrees and when it rains it tends to wash to the bottom. I put edging along the bottom edge to keep the mulch from washing into the yard. A steeper slope would be a real problem. I've heard that cypress mulch won't float, so it might work better.

I can also recommend crown vetch as rmorgan suggested. The county uses it all the time around here on steep banks along the sides of the road. It doesn't get too tall and even has nice flowers.