In article , Lynda Thornton
writes


However, there is the risk that the bark chips will blow off etc making
a right mess and/or settle lower on the slope, exposing the upper area.
Someone recently suggested to us to replace the grass with low ground
cover to help hold the bank together as when the grass isn't there it
might cause problems with subsiding soil?

Sounds a sensible suggestion.

We are also thinking of a similar lawn-reduction in another raised area
although much less sloping, at the front of the house but below the main
lawn, out of sight behind a hedge and basically just a pain to keep
tidy. It's roughly north facing and in the shade some of the time.
There I was thinking of planting round the edges with a 3-4ft hebe (or
evergreen) type hedge with ferns below on the bottom section of the
slope and on the flatter top putting in a couple of specimen trees and
covering the rest with bark chippings. There might be the same
situation there that the chippings will need retaining and that ground
cover would also help to hold the soil together.

How dry is this area, given that it's near a hedge? Most ferns like a
soil which is on the moist side.

Anywhere near a lawn will tend to get re-invaded by grass, so you'll
need some sort of edging to keep it under control - either a regularly
trimmed lawn edge or a barrier strip of paving stones, bricks or
similar.


What might be good specimen trees for north-facing, partial shade?

I have a Magnolia stellata on the N side of the house, about 10 ft from
the house - it gets sun morning and evening in summer.

I
was wondering about magnolia but they might not be hardy enough,
although we haven't been here for a winter yet and don't know how much
of a frost pocket we might be in (we are on a long avenue up a hill)

If you're partly up the hill, you won't have a frost pocket unless you
have a hedge or other barrier across the slope.

but
lined with large mature trees, it's a very tree-y area.

How would people suggest we get rid of this amount of grass and moss - a
spray weedkiller or dig it up?

Strip the turf, dig the soil out and bury the turf face down at least 12
inches deep. Or strip the turf and pile it up somewhere to rot down.
It'll make good top soil for the future.


--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"