ground cover for hill

I posted this on curb appeal, but since other people post here I though I would see what you have to say.

I need help with a problem hill. We live on a corner lot with hills on two sides. This summer I am going to tackle the hardest part of the North facing hill. In total the north hill is 126' long. The part I want to work on is in the shade of the house so we need to think total shade. We looked at having a terraced wall put in, that was way beyond our budget.

The section I will be working with this summer is about 600 sq. ft. it is 56 feet long,at about a 50 to 60º angle. At one end it is 6 feet high the other end is 9 feet high. With that steep of a hill anything I put in has to be short or it falls over. The front hill isn't as steep and I am useing sedum that is under 6". I want to put in more than one ground cover to add variety. I am in zone 4 we seem to have little snow these days so there isn't much protection from the winter winds. I am in Minneapolis so it isn't open prairie at least.

At long last the question. What do you suggest for total shade, short, sturdy and fast growing? I want more than one kind of plant to avoid one long strip of the same.

I am posting a photo of the hill with the scaffolding so you have an idea of how steep it is.

Some random suggestions:
Periwinkle
Pachysandra
Maidenhair fern
Campanula (the low growers, some like shade)
Viola
Creeping Jenny

I have these growing in my zone 4-5 spots.

Good luck!

I have all of these growing in a full shade, fairly unprotected area:

Lamiastrum is the ground cover, with the following planted for interest
hostas
pulmonarias
winky series columbines (they're only about a foot tall)
astilbe peach blossom - shorter, and this one is more tolerant of dryness
japanese painted fern
several huecheras
woodland phlox

I envy the blank slate you have - enjoy!

andycdn and sstateham, I am starting to see the hillside garden in my head as fun rather than a problem. Thank you. Now to the drawing board and catalogues.

Keep us posted! I can share some lamiastrum in the spring if you want some.

Stacy

Stacy,

Thank you for the offer I might take you up on it unless I can find someone in Minneapolis to get some from.

Pauline

No problem - I have to dig a bunch out anyway, so I could send a good box full

Enjoy the planning!

Don't pass up this Ranuculus repens 'Buttercup"

This will quickly cover an area. It is a lovely groundcover
and a beautiful shade of green.

zenpotter, with a slope like that Epimediums would be lovely. Although they're not fast growing, in three years' time they would fill in nicely - one of those plants that "sleeps, creeps and leaps". There is such a wide assortment of shade plants for you to consider some of which have already been mentioned but don't forget the Brunneras, especially the variegated ones - 'Jack Frost' being my favorite - although 'Variegata' is also very nice.

Ajuga will grow anywhere and there are varieties in silver ranging to the darkest purple - black. It will crowd out plants like Campanula, but I've seen a nice combo of Ajuga with Lily of the Valley.

zen - love your house! Have you considered burying a section of dry stacked stone wall, kind of like a ruin, that you can plant to give interest to your slope? So flat here, I have slope envy, LOL.

Liriope(I know boring) but it is good in dry shade and Ophiopgon ..also Geranium maccrorhizom. Hakon grass. Carex...Christmas Ferns..These are all evergreen.

Ooooh. Golden Liriope (I think it's called PeeDee Ingot) with a nice black or purple anything would be so pretty. That new Ajuga Black Scallop would be nice, If it didn't choke out the Liriope. Is Liriope pretty tough?

Golden Liriope is very nice, but it doesn't grow in zone 4 (I just looked it up). We have some similar plants none that I have found for shade though. Ajuga grows well here. I wonder how a variety of ajuga would look.

I do have seed for Ajuga-pyramidalis which is dark green with deep purple tips and violet-blue flowers. Also have seed for Sweet Woodruff and several different columbine.
I think Liriope gets too tall it would probably bend over, Ophiopgon doesn't grow here, Geranium maccrorhizom sounds like a it would be nice for the site and it looks good too. It would be nice with the ones I have seed for. Adding some ferns sounds good too.

I keep getting these great ideas, I wonder what I will end up with. It is a large site so I can have several different plants.

Sweet Woodruff does well in total shade and will sprade fairly quickly. I like creeping Jenny too and there is agold vaiety. Spread quickly but is easily controlled at least in my zone.

I have sweet woodruff, and the first year it sat there like nothing. I came out into the garden in spring the next year and it had grown 2 feet or more across! That was one plant. And it's lovely.

woodruff is pretty invasive....try Euphorbia robbiae

I think the invasive tendencies of sweet woodruff depend on zone, location, etc. I know people who have had horrible trouble with it, but mine is pretty well behaved. Levilyla - you must have a perfect spot and fertile soil!

One of my hobbies is plant history and lore - Sweet woodruff is probably one of the most interesting. If you're interested, I've posted some of what I've found in my DG Diary.

Oh please do print about Sweet woodruff in your diary. It doesn't seem to be too invasive here is zone 4.

Now creeping jenny loves it here and will take over so I stay away from it.

Pauline

Pauline - it's in there ... click on my name, then go to my diary. It's in the "useless info" tab

sstateham- thank you for the info. I will have to read all of it later I did take a quick look through and I have most of the plants in my garden so it should be fun reading.

Pauline

lol - it's a lot to take in. I've enjoyed the hunt for the histories. Enjoy the read.

Sstateham- really interesting stuff. I love folklore and especially flower lore!

Ivy - Thanks :) I love it! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I've been making piles of files for a long time, just stiking things in when I find them. Stupid me, though, made the files by reference not by plant. I have a Shakepeare folder, Romans, Greeks, etc... I'm working now to get them compiled by plant so it's easier for me to find what I'm looking for. I really like the sources of the names, especially where they tie to mythology, like Narcissus and Iris. I'm also really into the meaning of flowers in Shakespeare, particularly in Hamlet.

Stacy