How to Landscape a Hill to Stop Soil Erosion | Home Guides …

Any plant with strong, deep or fibrous roots does well on slopes.

It's impossible to stop the wind from blowing or the rain from pouring down, but you can minimize their effects on your hillside in various ways to keep soil from eroding. The best way to stop soil erosion is to use all the methods at your disposal -- planting shrubs and ground covers with strong root systems; building terraces; installing drip irrigation systems. Despite the widespread notion that sowing native grass seed is an effective method to control soil erosion, studies show that such slopes have more erosion, according to horticulturist Bert Wilson at Las Pilitas Nursery in Santa Margarita, California.

Build a series of stone or wood terraces if you have a large hillside. Even a small, single terrace prevents some water runoff.

Incorporate stairs into the hillside. Use gravel or other porous material to help water seep into the ground.

Install a drip irrigation system on the uphill side of plants to reduce erosion caused by watering plants with a hose or sprinkler.

Plant cinquefoil (Potentilla neumanniana) in full sun to partial shade in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 1 through 10b. Cinquefoil, with yellow 1/4-inch flowers and bright green leaves, grows 4 to 6 inches tall and spreads with rooting stems.

Raise dwarf periwinkle (Vinca minor) in partial to full shade or full sun in cool climates in USDA hardiness zones 5b through 10b. Don't plant Vinca major, a larger, invasive species of the plant.

Use Santa Barbara sedge (Carex barbarae) in sun or partial shade in USDA zones 7a through10b. This perennial forms spreading clumps of grasslike leaves 1 to 3 feet tall.

Plant a spreading juniper, such as Gold Lace (Juniperus chinensios), in USDA plant hardiness zones 5b through 10b in either full sun or partial shade. Gold Lace, with golden tipped, green foliage, grows to 4 feet tall and spreads to 6 feet. Blue Chip (Juniperus horizontalis) spreads 6 to 8 feet and grows 1 foot tall, with silver-blue foliage in USDA hardiness zones 1 through 10b.

Grow dwarf heath (Erica carnea) in sun, or partial shade in very hot climates, in USDA plant hardiness zones 5b through 10b. This species of heath has red flowers and grows 16 inches high and 2 feet wide.

Plant pride of Madeira (Echium candicans) in USDA zones 9a through 10b in full sun. The plant needs a big slope, where its large mounds can reach 5 to 6 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet wide. Pride of Madeira has gray-green leaves and tall, spiky blue-purple flowers.

Susan Lundman began writing about her passions of cooking, gardening, entertaining and recreation after working for a nonprofit agency, writing grants and researching child development issues. She has written professionally for six years since then. Lundman received her M.A. from Stanford University.

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How to Landscape a Hill to Stop Soil Erosion | Home Guides ...