I have property with steep inclines. I'd love to plant blooming plants that look good when you look down on them, either vines or plumerias (steep inclines, trees planted down would show their tops below eye level). BUT, stabilizing the slope would be a concern. Lots of foliage now, mostly local, and one spot has already given way. Vetiver is used/recommended extensively here but it's.....boring....what are deep rooted, non-invasive alternatives to this grass?
ALSO...the land, about an acre, where the house will also go, gets steady winds from the valley it sits on. Not destructive, but drying, and hard on some foliage plants I've noticed. (I am not near the ocean, so these are no salt breezes). Good plants that can take some wind in a tropical environment, including flowering plants?
thanks for your thoughts. and any other bali gardeners out there, feel free to contact me!
Vetiver Alternatives; Wind in the tropics/BALI
Palms, bamboo, and palms!
Dave is on the money!!!!
gee, so simple, thanks. But I take it u r responding to the wind, not to the alternatives to vetiver?
Palms and bamboo are great for erosion control in steep areas, and produce valuable products.
I love palms and bamboo, but they tend to create a canopy so high and thick that you can pretty much forget about intra-planting the kinds of species that will give you a dynamic, colorful look from uphill. I'd go mainly with the vetiver, in rows generally following the slope contour lines. However, by breaking creatively from the strict contour pattern you can enjoy both the anti-erosion effect and have some excellent spots for other plants (slower-growing but ultimately taller, and floral or at least more colorful than vetiver). Let me emphasize that you first make sure to have enough of the parallel rows to beat the erosion. Then you can design in some breaks in that pattern.
The simplest way: in one contour row, leave a gap by omitting a couple of vetiver plants, through which some water and humus can flow --yes, a tad of erosion, which must be controlled. Directly downhill from the gap, control the erosive force by creating a small terrace or "balcony" perhaps 2ft x 2 ft. by digging down into the hill for 1 ft of the 2 ft and using the cut soil to extend out from the slope for the other 1 ft. Directly below this balcony, right up against the extended cut soil, double the vetiver density; on both sides of the balcony, put an extra vetiver, in between the regular contour rows.
You should find that this controls the erosion and that these spots will become well-watered, self-mulching planting areas. Plant a nice selection of species in these spots --including palms and some bamboo if you like, but think more about plumeria, flamboyan, hibiscus and other species so you have the colorful view you want. Make sure you don't plant things that will ever form too dense a canopy, since that can shade out the vetiver and create problems later on.
In closing, do not forget your primary objective of erosion control --too many variances from the contour planting, or too little extra vetiver in the downhill row and sides and you can end up having created a new creek which will carry away your view.
Here's a grand-scale version of what you could think about: http://picasaweb.google.com/VetiverClients/VetiverSytstemForUrbanLandscaping#5014394505924511426
Thank you JPlunket, that was brilliant, sincere thanks for taking the time to post it. Can't thank you enough. Graz