The main function of this scheme is to help provide planting that can help to protect and stabilise the soil on a sunny slope. The spreading habit of plants such as the Ceanothus and Cistus helps to protect the soil surface and can reduce soil erosion, which can be more pronounced on slopes with exposed ground.
The Crocosmia and Agastache have shallow but spreading root systems, which help to bind the soil surface. The Thymus helps to cover ground, therefore reducing erosion and the drying effect of the wind on exposed soil. It will also help to prevent unwanted plants from self-seeding by reducing areas of bare soil.
‘Right plant, right place’ is essential here, as plants that are unable to cope with the sharp drainage and sunny aspect will show signs of stress and will need higher inputs of resources such as water.
Additional organic mulching, preferably with homemade compost, can improve soil moisture retention and weed suppression. Mulches should be spread when the soil is already moist, to help trap some of that moisture before it dries out in summer.
1 - Crocosmia × crocosmiiflora ‘Carmin Brilliant’ is a clump-forming herbaceous perennial with blade-like leaves. Arching flower stems bear an abundance of red buds that from mid to late summer develop into long-lasting, intense, dark orange tubular flowers, each with a yellow throat marked with reddish blotches.
2 - Genista ‘Porlock’ is a semi-evergreen shrub with small, soft leaves and clusters of fragrant, bright yellow, gorse-like flowers in spring.
3 - Ceanothus ‘Blue Mound’ is a broad, bushy, medium-sized evergreen shrub with small, glossy leaves and compact heads of small bright blue flowers in late spring.
4 - Ceanothus ‘Dark Star’ is a spreading evergreen shrub with small, dark green leaves and clusters of deep blue-purple flowers on arching branches in late spring.
5 - Genista lydia is a compact, deciduous dwarf shrub with arching or trailing branches of small leaves and clusters of pea-like bright yellow flowers in early summer.
6 - Cistus × purpureus is a small, bushy evergreen shrub with narrow, dull green leaves. The summer flowers are purplish pink, with large deep red blotch at the base.
7 - Agastache ‘Blue Fortune’ is an upright herbaceous perennial forming a clump of leafy stems, with dense, upright spikes of small violet-blue flowers from summer to early autumn.
8 - Thymus pulegioides ‘Aureus’ is a compact, spreading, evergreen ground cover perennial with small, aromatic, bright golden-yellow leaves and clusters of small, pale mauve flowers in spring and summer.