Planting Hillside, Banks and Slopes

A bank skirting the street can often be a problem spot. Sowing it to grass is impractical because of the inconvenience of mowing a slope. Grass and creeping ground covers, like myrtle and pachysandra, remain too low to separate the grounds from the street and a retaining wall involves a heavy expense unless the owners do the building themselves. The best solution, then, is to plant the bank to some sturdy shrub with fibrous roots that hold the soil.

Japanese barberry is one of the best and least expensive bank-covering shrubs and, if one is willing to wait four or five years for a permanent planting, the whole cost can be written off by growing the shrubs from seed.

The trim bank planting in Chatham, NJ, began with a hedge of Japanese barberry along the top of the slope. The owner selected seed from the heavily-fruiting plants in the hedge and sowed it in rows in the vegetable garden. When the seedlings had grown to suitable size for transplanting about two years later, they were set out on the bank, one foot apart each way.

At the time the barberry seedlings were planted the bank was covered with a three-year-old rough sod. Instead of turning this under, holes for the small shrubs were dug in the sod. For the following three seasons the grass between was cut with a sickle when necessary.

When the seedling plants were set out in the spring they were cut back immediately to 4 inches from the ground to encourage thick branching from the ground level. The following winter they were again cut back, to 6 inches, and the second winter, to 8. By the next year the plants had filled ih enough to make grass cutting unnecessary. Then the plants were left undisturbed until they became so large that they required shearing to keep them in scale.

Now the barberry planting gets two regular prunings a year with hedge shears. The main trimming is done on any mild day in late winter. Starting at the top of the slope the gardener shears all plants within reach to a height of about 2-1/2 feet. Then the shearing is completed from the foot of the bank.

A light pruning is given the planting again in early June to shear back the new twigs and encourage dense growth. The shrubs are allowed to grow freely the rest of the season and to set fruit for fall and winter interest.

Overflow Evangeline daffodils planted 10 years ago in a single row at the foot of the planting have so increased that they make a solid foot-wide border that provides a nice spring show. An occasional feeding of bonemeal is the only encouragement given these daffodils, a variety that appears to thrive close to the fibrous-rooted barberries.

The hedge at the top of the slope is joined by the more refined boxwood, yews and junipers to form a neat dooryard combination. The whole planting has remained satisfying to this garden-minded owner through 25 years. With two prunings a year the only cultural demand of the established barberries, such a planting may well be copied by other owners of sloping lots.

5 Good Bank Cover Plants

Common Juniper (Juniperus communis) Is one of the most useful narrow-leaved evergreens for dry banks. While it doesn’t spread by means of suckers as some plants do, it has a sprawling habit of growth which is very useful. Likewise, its sharp needles make it a well-nigh impenetrable mass and ono which can be kept at almost any height to 3 or 4 feet by an occasional trimming.

Rosa rugosa makes a dense bank cover if sheared close to the ground every two or three years. If pruned in late winter now shoots grow and bloom by summer. Bushes sucker freely. So, plant at least 3 feet apart. Flowers are single or double; white, pink or rosy crimson. The hips are large, brightly colored and attractive. Max Graf is particularly good for banks, being more trailing.

Fiveleaf Aralia (Acanthopanox sieboldianus) is a tough shrub, one of the few that will flourish on a bank without direct sun. It forms an impenetrable moss of spiny branches with insignificant flowers and small, shiny compound leaves immune to posts and diseases. Spreads by suckers. Can be sheared low every few years for compactness. Set the original plants at least 314 to 4 feet apart.

Yellow-root (Xanthorhiza simplicissima) is a small plant, usually not over two feet high, growing from numerous underground stems. It grows well in shade and survives competition with tree roots bettor than most other shrubs, presenting at all times a neat mass of finely-cut foliage and a very uniform height. Both flowers and fruits are comparatively inconspicuous and may be disregarded.

Rockspray (Cotoneaster horizontalis) is a very low – growing, semi-overgreen shrub with a horizontal fishbone like skeleton when it is bare of leaves in late winter. Planted on a sunny slope, it boars an abundance of red berries that are attractive and last well into the winter. The plants are slow-growing and a little expensive. Set 2 feet apart or closer, if you want to produce a quick effect.

by A Dustan

Related Articles Of Interest:

• A Brief Guide to Garden Hedges
• Landscaping A Medium-Size Garden
• Foundation Planting and Home Landscaping
• Hedges, Border, Screen and Background Planting in Home Landscaping