Chelle: What a great article and tutorial with wonderful information that is sure to come in handy for many of us! Your hard work is evident in your beautiful garden!

Thanks! Chelle!
This is an article that I will come back to, as it has so many good ideas which I can use.

Lin and Caroline, I'm glad you liked it and found it useful.

Slopes with trees and seasonal clay swamps are what we have the most of for our flower gardens, so a way had to be found to make them productive. Everything else I've tried washes away...one way or another. These actually work!


Here's the featured new bed with the first phase complete. Big hostas and another fern have been added. Now I just need to add a few pockets of shade-loving annuals or dainty perennials to balance it out.



Oh, and maybe one more smaller hosta; front and to the right.

You figured it all out! Perfect. I like the way you think chelle. I can see that I can utilize some of this. This is the first time I've had to deal with planting on slopes so this tutorial is timely & informative. Thank you! Now, can you just tell me what you do to prevent your body from rebelling at standing, stooping, sitting, digging on a slope?

plantladylin said:Chelle: What a great article and tutorial with wonderful information that is sure to come in handy for many of us! Your hard work is evident in your beautiful garden!

Excellent!!! Thank you!

I have slopes in my yard and this is all very valuable advice for me!

Thanks for doing this article and providing the step by step pics!

flaflwrgrl said:You figured it all out! Perfect. I like the way you think chelle. I can see that I can utilize some of this. This is the first time I've had to deal with planting on slopes so this tutorial is timely & informative. Thank you! Now, can you just tell me what you do to prevent your body from rebelling at standing, stooping, sitting, digging on a slope?

flaflwrgrl said: Now, can you just tell me what you do to prevent your body from rebelling at standing, stooping, sitting, digging on a slope?

Standing: can't help ya, my calves were screaming at me the day after! Stoop uphill, the distance to the ground is less. Both stooping and digging are considerably less by using planting pockets...you usually only dig half as much. Sitting? Do it often!

Good article Chelle. I don't have slopes (at the present time), but still appreciate the valuable information you shared here. Your gardens are beautiful!

Great article, CHelle. I struggle a lot with tree roots, so I found your photo tutorial really helpful. Thank you.

Linda

One of the greatest challenges here was to get new plants growing well under thirsty, high-rooted river birch, planted on a slope. The north side wasn't too terribly tough, we have a nice stand of hosta growing well there, but the south-facing and sloping side is taking some time. Lots of trial and error involved. So far I've found that even with the use of planting pockets, only the most drought/sun tolerant annuals and perennials will work on that side. Spring bulbs do just fine.

I love the idea and the pocket is a good way to recognize the newly planted and give them some extra attention