@stone, Okay--at least I only planted two roses so far; it'll be easy to pull them out. No I don't want to hazard terracing. How would you recommend I plant them instead? Since this is a slope, I'm afraid mounding soil around the rootballs won't work--they're at the top of the slope, and even when I watered them in, the top layer of soil began sliding right down... which is why I built a little clay rim around the front of the holes. It's right around a 60- to 70-degree angle. I'm going hole by hole right now because this clay is no joke--it's ONLY clay after 2 inches of some other soil the lawn obviously hates. I could fire it in a kiln, after I get the rocks out.
@roseblush1, I considered chicken wire, but was worried it wouldn't look too good, and this is a front yard... Maybe the mulch would do the same...?
