I'm in zone 5b/6a and we usually get an average of 40" of rain per year.
Our neighbor was putting in a new garage and offered my husband the "good" top soil that they dug up. He was happy to take it. When we got home, we saw that the "good" top soil was junk. It's clay with rocks from pea-sized to 3". With some coal mixed in for good measure. The clay is orange and very dense--I could probably make pots out of it.
So we have a berm at the back of our small property that is 4' high, 8' wide at the base and 25' long. One side faces SE (full sun) and the other NW (almost full shade).
It's been there a couple of years now and we call it The Mound. I tried sifting it but Ugh! Plus, there's glass in it. Getting rid of it would be $$$. So I want to cover it up with perennials.
Any ideas? On the shade side, we've thought about vinca and mahonia repens. On the sun side, we've thought about Russian Sage, coreopsis, some kind of grass (sterile pampas?), mockorange, daylilies. I don't know if any of these would work. Any ideas?
I'm not sure if it is wet or dry since it's clay but it's also sloped a lot. It has rocks for drainage but it's also that horrible clay. It's at the back of the yard by the alley so it would be very difficult to water. We have a small yard so we can't have anything that would be invasive (by seed or runner). Low maintenance and long blooming would be a dream but I know I can't be too picky.
