Recently a friend gave me two small datura plants. They have grown fast and big. I have a steep hill in the backyard that is always covered in weeds. 70 plus one heart attack is keeping me off the hill.
Could the datura work for taking over the hill and choke out the weeds? Would the datura become my weed and would I be in the same boat.

Hi Bworden and welcome to NGA!

Probably not a good idea to let datura loose on your hill .. they produce hundreds of seeds - especially the D. stramonium if that's what you have. The D. metels produce a lot of seeds too and some have nasty spiked pods as well. Another thing to consider is that they can be deadly to small animals and children.

Do you know which Datura you have? A picture would help.

What are your weeds? Perhaps introduce some native grasses or other plants that would colonize your hillside.

If it is Datura stramonium, also known as Jimson weed, it should be happy on your hill. Not knowing the zone where you live, I would say to try the plants there and see how they grow. You will get many seed pods to try again next year. Our neighbor has a large plant in her front garden. It comes back every spring....bigger and fuller.

Where do you live? If in California, Jimson weed is frowned upon as it is really poisonous to livestock. It is very invasive so even if you don't have livestock to worry about, your neighbors' might.

Aside from the above, as a bushy type thing, you'd still have lots of "weeds" spring up around it.. unfortunately.

Please give a location so we can better suggest alternatives