When we moved into our home the seller had covered the big rock
outcropping behind us with truckloads of wood chips, much of it piles of
sticks. Over time they'd become infected with artillery fungus and
stinkhorns, so we just had a landscaper come in and remove it all.

Now we have a very large bank area interrupted by large rocks and
covered with a very thin layer of red soil, mostly one or two inches
deep. The whole bank area fades into established woods, mostly oaks.
Left alone, I figure it will develop some weeds and grass and saplings
and eventually turn into brush, which would be fine.

But since it is all bare now, so there is an opportunity I was wondering
if there is anything I can sow or plant that will give me some ground
cover and look good with the woods above it. It is much too steep to mow
and much too big to weedwhack. So it needs to have a very natural look.

The light conditions are maybe 3-4 hours of light during most of the
summer, better in the spring. Zone 5a with a western exposure on a hill.


--Jenny

"Jenny" wrote in message
...

When we moved into our home the seller had covered the big rock
outcropping behind us with truckloads of wood chips, much of it piles of
sticks. Over time they'd become infected with artillery fungus and
stinkhorns, so we just had a landscaper come in and remove it all.

Now we have a very large bank area interrupted by large rocks and covered
with a very thin layer of red soil, mostly one or two inches deep. The
whole bank area fades into established woods, mostly oaks. Left alone, I
figure it will develop some weeds and grass and saplings and eventually
turn into brush, which would be fine.

But since it is all bare now, so there is an opportunity I was wondering
if there is anything I can sow or plant that will give me some ground
cover and look good with the woods above it. It is much too steep to mow
and much too big to weedwhack. So it needs to have a very natural look.

The light conditions are maybe 3-4 hours of light during most of the
summer, better in the spring. Zone 5a with a western exposure on a hill.


--Jenny

My son has had great luck growing a small crop of this.

http://www.calguard.ca.gov/cdtf/CD%2...arijuana-1.jpg



Inviato da X-Privat.Org - Registrazione gratuita http://www.x-privat.org/join.php

"Jenny" wrote in message

When we moved into our home the seller had covered the big rock
outcropping behind us with truckloads of wood chips, much of it
piles of sticks. Over time they'd become infected with
artillery
fungus and stinkhorns, so we just had a landscaper come in and
remove it all.

Too bad. They are both harmless and eventually you would have
had a better soil there.

--

Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5

"Jenny" wrote in message
But since it is all bare now, so there is an opportunity I was wondering
if there is anything I can sow or plant that will give me some ground

I like this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=rock+cress
http://images.google.com/images?q=rock+cress

Not sure if the sunlight will be enough...
I have mine in morning-early afternoon sun.
It's in full bloom now and very pretty.
Looks like it comes in several colors, I have purple.
http://www.humeseeds.com/efaubrt.htm

I'm also a fairly big sedum fan.
I have several varieties around the house.

--
May no harm befall you,
flip (Pittsburgh PA - zone 5/6)
Ich habe keine Ahnung was das bedeutet, oder vielleicht doch?
Remove origin of the word spam from address to reply (leave "+")

Travis M. wrote:
"Jenny" wrote in message

When we moved into our home the seller had covered the big rock
outcropping behind us with truckloads of wood chips, much of it
piles of sticks. Over time they'd become infected with artillery
fungus and stinkhorns, so we just had a landscaper come in and
remove it all.

Too bad. They are both harmless and eventually you would have had a
better soil there.

Artillery fungus isn't "harmless". It was spattering our home which is a
light color as far as the second story and it got so we couldn't park on
the driveway because our cars were getting spattered. Once the fungus
sets (two or three days) nothing, and I mean NOTHING will remove it. I
tried just about everything you can think of and ended up having to go
out every other day to scrape it off the siding. I couldn't use any cut
flowers from my garden either as they were covered with spores.


It can take as long as a decade for the artillery fungus to go away. As
the mulch was more than a foot deep in some areas and after three years
was still full of large sticks, this wasn't going to be breaking down
into nice soil anytime soon.

We don't plan to live in this house more than another couple years and
foresaw serious problems selling it if we didn't get the mulch removed.


--Jenny

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes Diabetes Info

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm Get Your Blood
Sugar Under Control

Philip Lewis wrote:
"Jenny" wrote in message
But since it is all bare now, so there is an opportunity I was wondering
if there is anything I can sow or plant that will give me some ground

I like this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=rock+cress
http://images.google.com/images?q=rock+cress

Not sure if the sunlight will be enough...
I have mine in morning-early afternoon sun.
It's in full bloom now and very pretty.
Looks like it comes in several colors, I have purple.
http://www.humeseeds.com/efaubrt.htm

That is an attractive plant and looks like it might work. There's a lot
of light in the spring, not so much once the trees leaf out. I just
ordered a couple packs of seeds.

I already have three nice big soapworts growing on my rocks which look
similar and which don't seem to need much of anything to survive. I
might get a couple more of them, too.

The landscaper suggested day lilies and I coincidentally saw a bag of 10
cheap ones at Walmart. I have quite a few expensive ones in my garden
and the front of the house (I especially love the peach colored ones) as
I'm lucky enough to live down the road from a place that has a zillion
varieties you can dig in their field.

These cheap ones will probably be the ugly oranges ones but they are
behind my garage where you can't really see them so it isn't all that
important.

I'm also a fairly big sedum fan.
I have several varieties around the house.

I think my bank might be too wet for them. This ledge is at the edge of
a wood that slopes up from us and in normal years it's quite damp all
spring.



--
--Jenny

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes Diabetes Info

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm Get Your Blood
Sugar Under Control

Flox


From Mel & Donnie in Bluebird Valley





http://community.webtv.net/MelKelly/TheKids

Maybe Crown Vetch.


"Jenny" wrote in message
...

When we moved into our home the seller had covered the big rock
outcropping behind us with truckloads of wood chips, much of it piles of
sticks. Over time they'd become infected with artillery fungus and
stinkhorns, so we just had a landscaper come in and remove it all.

Now we have a very large bank area interrupted by large rocks and
covered with a very thin layer of red soil, mostly one or two inches
deep. The whole bank area fades into established woods, mostly oaks.
Left alone, I figure it will develop some weeds and grass and saplings
and eventually turn into brush, which would be fine.

But since it is all bare now, so there is an opportunity I was wondering
if there is anything I can sow or plant that will give me some ground
cover and look good with the woods above it. It is much too steep to mow
and much too big to weedwhack. So it needs to have a very natural look.

The light conditions are maybe 3-4 hours of light during most of the
summer, better in the spring. Zone 5a with a western exposure on a hill.


--Jenny

James wrote:
Maybe Crown Vetch.


It's listed as an invasive plant, which might not make it such a good
choice. I've seen it in abandoned fields in our region but not on slopes.

--Jenny

"Jenny" wrote in message

Travis M. wrote:
"Jenny" wrote in message

When we moved into our home the seller had covered the big
rock
outcropping behind us with truckloads of wood chips, much
of it
piles of sticks. Over time they'd become infected with
artillery
fungus and stinkhorns, so we just had a landscaper come in
and
remove it all.

Too bad. They are both harmless and eventually you would
have
had a better soil there.

Artillery fungus isn't "harmless". It was spattering our home
which
is a light color as far as the second story and it got so we
couldn't park on the driveway because our cars were getting
spattered. Once the fungus sets (two or three days) nothing,
and I
mean NOTHING will remove it. I tried just about everything you
can
think of and ended up having to go out every other day to
scrape it
off the siding. I couldn't use any cut flowers from my garden
either as they were covered with spores.

It can take as long as a decade for the artillery fungus to go
away. As the mulch was more than a foot deep in some areas and
after three years was still full of large sticks, this wasn't
going
to be breaking down into nice soil anytime soon.

We don't plan to live in this house more than another couple
years
and foresaw serious problems selling it if we didn't get the
mulch
removed.

--Jenny

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes Diabetes Info

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm Get Your
Blood Sugar Under Control

When you said the big rock out cropping behind you I assumed (my
bad) it was some distance from your house.

--


Travis in Shoreline Washington

Travis M. wrote:
When you said the big rock out cropping behind you I assumed (my bad) it
was some distance from your house.


Alas, no. Our home was built by a guy who runs a blasting business and
buys marginal land, blasts out a foundation site, and then puts in a
modular home. Since he gets the blasting for cost, he can afford to
develop lots no one else could touch. The house is 15-20 feet from the
rock which kind of wraps around it in the back and on one side.


Fortunately, we are up on a hill with a beautiful view from our other
windows and the site is private and rural but a very easy drive to
shopping which is a really nice change from our old home which was in
the country with no view and a good 20 minutes away from the closest
grocery store.

--Jenny

http://www.phlaunt.com/diabetes Diabetes Info

http://www.alt-support-diabetes.org/newlydiagnosed.htm Get Your Blood
Sugar Under Control