"AberTech" wrote in message
...
Hi Group,

My terraced house has a garden which faces West and is on quite a steep
slope. It was badly neglected and overgrown by the previous owner.

I myself have little time/interest in gardening and consider about 1 hour
a
week to be my limit. I have two areas in terraces and have put a sheet
material on those, overlaid with stone chippings as a start.

On the sloping bits atm is just grass and weeds, which grew like buggery
in
the summer. My neighbour tells me the soil here is 'great for growing
things'.

I am looking for suggestions for suitable plants to cover these areas. My
mothers garden had snow-on-the-mountain (not sure if thats its proper
name)
on it and I remember that being tough, low-lying and only requiring
chopping
back now and again. I intend to use some of that and am thinking about
making use of a considerable amount of heather as that also seems to meet
the requirements and seems to grow well on the hills around here.

What do you think and can you give me some suggestions on what else I
could
use?

Many TIA.


The most consistent plants I have are Brachycombes ( Swan River Daisies).
They're supposed to be tender annuals but mine ( southwest )
grow as perennials, tumbling over a palisade. They're good because:-

They bloom continuously from June to the first frosts,
They have attractive dissected foliage,
They require clipping back once a year at most,
They do not require deadheading,
Rain does not appear to damage the flowers,
They do not require staking,
They're semi-evergreen,
Slugs don't touch them,
They appear disease-free.

I can't guarantee they'd survive a bad winter elsewhere but they're my top
tip. Mine are a variety called ' Blue Mist'. As for shrubs, if your soil is
a bit on the acid side, Azaleas might be good, compact, nice in spring and
slow growing, they can cope with light shade.

Another perenial is Sedum ( Ice Plant ). Fleshy leaves die back a bit in
winter, but reappear in summer, nice pannicles of red/pink flowers in
Autumn. I've never touched mine, they are zero maintenance.

Alyssum is OK in a sunny spot, the white stuff. An annual but I always find
some has seeded and produces new plants in spring. Will require cutting back
once in summer to refresh the flower heads.

Another idea is a perennial grass, such as Horse's Tail, which produces an
attractive feathery spray.

Another architectural plant is Stinking Hellebore, such as 'Wester Flisk'.
It only really requires being cut back in early summer after the flower head
is done, and the occasional removal of a dead leaf. Other hellebores like
the Christmas Rose seem to need no effort either.

Box is an evergreen shrub that grows slowly and needs clipping once a year
when up to size.

Some of the columnar Yew trees are slow growing and you can get dark or
golden varieties. Really these never need pruning. The same goes for some of
the slow-growing conifers, like the mounding junipers etc.

Don't get:-
Hostas, Dahlias, Lupins, Petunias ( slug damage )
Golden Rod, Hollyhocks, Scabious, Verbascum, Sunflowers ( need staking )
Sweet Peas, Roses ( deadheading ).
Try not to get annuals unless they self-seed.

Andy.