Printable View
We have a fairly large area that has what I'd say is a 30 to 45 degree slope. I'm wondering what we can do with it. We've thought about planting flowers or vegetables on it, but I'd like to have some spots that are just there for beauty, too. Does it make sense to plant vegetables on that much of a slope, or should we just plant flowers? What could we do have spots that add beauty?
I can't imagine a vegetable garden on that much of a slope. Maintaining it would be tough. I HAVE seen people cut terraces in slopes to plant stuff. Also, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Some people would want a manicured lawn, some might be satisfied with a brush hog keeping it down and others would just love the look of a "natural" area, i.e. let grow whatever will grow there. Sounds like wildflowers might be a good choice for you since you mentioned them twice in your post.
If you want beauty - flowers would provide just that! It might still be quite a bit of work, keeping the weeds out, so make sure you want to put that much effort into it.
One idea would to be to find out what a good wildflower mix would be for your area, plant seed heavily, and let it grow "wild". Mow it all down at the end of the year to keep larger weeds and trees from taking hold.
Would be nice if you like a "natural" look, instead of a manicured appearance.
I've seen what Jml was talking about with cutting out terraces. I think that is a really interesting look. A good bit of work to get it accomplished, but striking in appearance when it is done. If you don't want to put that much work into it, I like the wildflower idea.
My father planted fruit trees on a slope like that. He said it would prevent soil erosion, and it sure does. It also provides shade where the children can play.
Flowering shrubs might be another idea for you to consider. The shrubs would probably grow in pretty quickly and they would be low on maintenance.
How much snow do you get?
Pat