It can be pain in the neck to mow and maintain grass on a steep slope.  Many homeowners think of landscaping solutions like retaining walls or boulder outcroppings  to manage these steep hilly areas, but establishing a dense groundcover plantings on a hillside can be another great option to consider as well.

The idea, is that tightly spaced plantings can cover the entire slope with a dense planting that doesn’t need to be mowed.  Groundcover plantings have a natural look and require little to no maintenance, other than occasional weeding to maintain.

Retaining walls and boulders work great for landscaping hills, but you’re looking something a little different and more natural looking perhaps, consider working with a MN landscape design company to come up an with an interesting groundcover planting design solution for your hill.  In addition to looking great, establishing groundcover plantings can also be very a cost-effective landscaping option for hillsides.

Slow growing, deciduous, spreading evergreen perennial (its leaves stay green all winter, yes even in MN).  When gown in a mass planting, it will form a dense ground cover. Very cold hardy plant.

Gro-low Sumac (Rhus aromatica)

A fast-growing larger sized groundcover, that does well in tough and hard to grow areas.  This plant is tough, very drought and heat tolerant.  The foliage will turn vibrant red in the fall season well planted in patrial to full sun.  Grow low sumac is likely the very best groundcover cover plant to use to erosion control (preventing soil was out) on steep hills, due to its dense stem growth habit and deep rooting structure.

Sedums are a highly adaptive, succulent, drought tolerant plant variety that can be found in a wide range of flower blooms, vegetation coloring, and size.  When choosing a sedum variety to use as a groundcover, we suggest one of the “Mat-forming” or “spreading” varieties.  The “upright” varieties are used as part of perennial landscape beds rather than groundcovers.

A fast-growing larger sized groundcover, that does well in tough and hard to grow areas.  This plant is tough, very drought and heat tolerant.  The foliage will turn vibrant red in the fall season well planted in patrial to full sun.  Grow low sumac is likely the very best groundcover cover plant to use to erosion control (preventing soil was out) on steep hills, due to its dense stem growth habit and deep rooting structure.

Performs well as a groundcover in shaded areas. Well suited for moist, well drained soils. Very cold hardy.  Popular for woodland gardens with evergreen leaves

An attractive dense groundcover. The different Cultivars available display foliage ranging from dark burgundy to bronze. The different cultivars come in a range of bloom colors as well. Spreads by sending out wandering stolon’s (basically horizontal roots).

Creeping Junipers include a variety of low growing evergreen shrubs that can be utilized as groundcover. The foliage can range from silvery-blue to golden-yellow to rich green.

The phlox family includes a wide range of varieties.  When it comes to using phlox as a ground, cover you want to choose varieties that are part of the “creeping”/sublata type.  These types of phlox will display a gorgeous explosion of color in the early spring here in MN. Foliage is thin leaved, resembling a unique grass or sedge. 

The ground cover version of Lamium is a frost hardy plant that spreads by both seeds and stem rooting. The plant has a square stem, the different varieties can display a wide range of foliage patterns/variegation as well as a wide color range of flower blooms. 

While Hosta’s may not be considered a traditional ground cover in the sense that they do not spread via Rhizomes, like many other plants on this list: they do have a tendency to completely fill in shaded bed overtime by forming tightly spaces dense basil mounds. The Hosta plant family includes 100s of varieties, ranging between 1-4 feet tall and 1-5 wide, with most falling in the 2-3’ Tall by 2-3’ wide size range. Looking for some great Hosta ideas for the Minneapolis area? Check out our blog for a detailed list of the 10 Best Hostas for MN

A ground cover that does well in the shade, the red flower is typically hidden under its own foliage.  Wild ginger will keep its foliage color thought out the season.

A sweet-scented woodland flowering plant with bell like flowers. A great option for rich, well-drained soil in shady locations.