Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

I just noticed a hill side full of violets.

Tomorrow I'll get another chance.

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Dixiegirl Loc: Alabama gulf coast

Dave, I think your flower is a vinca instead of a violet, but it's just as beautiful.

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Thanks for letting me know. I'll check them more closely tomorrow. I was losing daylight and was in a bit of a hurry when I took this photo. There are a lot of them on my hill side. I think the people I bought my house from planted these flowers.

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Nice shot, Dave. That is a Vinca species, popularly called "Myrtle" or "Periwinkle."

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but that plant is extremely problematic, as it is an invasive alien that spreads like crazy and dominates landscapes driving out hundreds of native plant species. The National Parks and various nature preserves have a big problem with it, and much time and money is spent trying to control it.

Mike

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

The lesser of evils. Below is a photo of the steep hillside that the Periwinkle is growing on a small portion of that steep bank. I prefer that something is growing on the bank to keep it from eroding. Left alone "multi floral rose" would take over that hill. I planted some crown vetch because it grows well on hill sides. I don't want the multi floral rose to take over because of the nasty thorns; I would prefer almost anything else.

Hill side

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HOT Texas Loc: From the Heart of Texas

Nice shot Dave!!!! :thumbup:

DOOK Loc: Maclean, Australia

Very nice, Dave. Well shot. :-) :-)

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Crown Vetch, Multiflora Rose, and Vinca are all big problems. The idea of planting those exotics to stop erosion on banks is an idea from highway departments back in the 30's, long since discredited but very persistent. Many of the highway departments are now moving to native plantings. A lot of money is made on selling the exotics, as they can be collected or propagated where land and labor are cheap, but whether the considerations are landscaping, aesthetics, soil and water management or practicality the use of natives is the better choice. The use of natives in landscaping is essential if we are going to save native songbirds and butterflies, and that is the main motivation for home gardeners.

Pennsylvania is one of the leading states for native restoration projects and resources.

http://iconservepa.org/plantsmart/nativeplants/buynatives/index.htm

Mike

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Thank you Mike, As might guess I don't know much about plants. I could talk to local nurseries and find a native plant to grow on this hill side.

Can you recommend a particular pant?

Blenheim Orange Loc: Michigan

Interesting challenge. Native grasses would stabilize the heck out of that location like nothing else can- Pennsylvania Sedge, Sideoats Grama, Little Bluestem. I think that a wall of grasses would make an attractive aesthetic background and be low maintenance, and would be a great food source for birds.

For color, summer perennials - Bee Balm (red), Bergamot (purple), Brown-eyed Susan (yellow), Butterfly Weed (orange), New England Aster (purple) - would be good choices. Oxeye, Tall Sunflower, Tall Coreopsis, (yellow sunflower like blossoms) would all be possibilities.

A beautiful plant that would do well in that location would be Birdsfoot Violet (Viola pedata). It does well in sunny drier locations, spreads by rhizomes and has large blossoms. It is a plant that needs help, as well, since it is disappearing in the wild. Wild Strawberry would do well there, too, and Barren Strawberry (Waldsteinia Fragarioides). Those are all ion the "groundcover" category, while the summer perennials I mentioned before are taller plants.

Other ground cover possibilities include two low growing, spreading native Phlox species Phlox stolonifera (Creeping phlox)
Phlox subulata (Moss-pink).

What you have there is a disturbed area, and that will attract native succession species (what some call "nature's band aids), plants that are pioneers that colonize areas after fires, floods or other disturbances, stabilize the soil and then give way to other species as the area recovers. If you are real lucky Fireweed might show up - beautiful plant that thrives only under the worst conditions. Invasive noxious weeds, like Spotted Knapweed can show up as well. One of the things we do in conjunction with the bird sanctuary here is help people identify what plants are showing up on their property and whether they are desirable or not. We have dozens of beautiful native wildflower species that showed up on their own in our yard and garden. If you post photos of things that show up in that location I can usually tell you what you are seeing.

We are probably at least a mile away from any location where someone may have planted Vinca intentionally, yet we are pulling it up all the time, and if we didn't we would eventually have little but that plant and would lose other desirable species as the Vinca dominated the landscape. Vinca doesn't support any wildlife, and in North America there are no natural checks on its spread so it quickly gets out of control.

By the way, a little effort in this direction can make a big difference in the bird and butterfly populations on your property. We created a little pond and native wetland plants area in our backyard, no more that a 10 foot by 15 foot area, and a Red-winged Blackbird, a marsh bird that we would normally not see within miles of us, showed up the other day and thinks he has found a home. We started doing a native plant restoration project in our yard 5 years ago, and it is amazing the number of nesting birds we have now - 20 species at least.

Mike

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

Wow Mike, I would not mind a wall of grasses on that hill side as long as I don't need to mow it!

I bought this house and property about 4 years ago. I fell in love with the house and location. I have 13 acres of land most of it is trees and my neighbors have hundreds acres. I have a farmer on one side a church/graveyard on another. I love the quiet and privacy it provides. See photos.

Your correct that hillside was cut out to provide a plateau on which to build the house. It looks to me like the big trees were cut cut down about a hundred years ago and this is new growth. I have a small steam on one corner of the property. I have toyed with the idea a damming to make pond but found out there are legal problems because the pond would be near a public road. I wish I could buy a beaver let him do his thing and blame it all on the beaver. LOL

Because of the drainage the builder had to put the septic field up on a hill top to one side of the house. The sewage needs to be pumped up hill to that field. That's not as much of a problem as you might think. I want to be able to keep an eye on the septic field to make sure there were not big trees growing into it. I discovered that multi-floral rose had taken over the land over long buried pipe leading to the septic field as well as the land all around the septic field. The thorns on that plant are horrible! It would rip my clothing to shreds and cut painful cuts into my skin. After talking to a farmer, I bought a "DR Field and Brush Mower" and cleared a trail up to my septic-field. That was so much fun that I ended up cutting over a mile of meandering trial into the property. I also discovered an old corn field at the top of another hill, and re-cleared that field. I need to make about three trips a year with my Brush Mower to keep the nature trail clear and walkable. I invite my friends from the local camera club to hike the trail every year. My farmer neighbors have given me permission to walk their land and photograph their animals.

I'm letting the land slowly return to nature, with the exception of my trail. That hill side behind the house is the only place I want to control prevent stop erosion. Thank you for all the ideas. Maybe I can talk one of my farmers friends into showing me how to plant grass on that hill side. The hill is so steep that the only way I can climb it is on all fours. The deer have no problem. The deer also love eating my multi-floral rose, they can eat as much of that as they want! They help me keep my trail clear.

Taken from a plane over my property

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You can see how steep that bank is


Taken from ridge above bank

Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

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Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

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Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

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Davethehiker Loc: South West Pennsylvania

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