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Grasses for Slopes

Steep slopes often pose challenges to homeowners and landscapers. Slopes need vegetation to prevent erosion and beautify the landscape. However, steep areas are difficult to mow and maintain. One common option is choosing grass well suited for the circumstances. There are several grasses ranging from annuals, often a good choice for temporary cover; to traditional, low-maintenance turf species and ornamental grasses. Heavy ornamental grass cover is better at slowing water runoff than is lawn grass, but both are able to bind soil on the slope.

  1. Annual Grasses

    • Annual grasses provide a fast-growing but temporary cover. These species germinate within a week but only last until winter. They are most suitable cover for one season before a long-term grass or other landscape planting is established. Ideal annual grasses, although they may vary depending on location, include cereal rye, field bromegrass and annual ryegrass.

    Medium Ornamental Grasses

    • Ribbongrass Phalaris arundinacea picta grows 2 to 3 feet with an open, upright and spreading growth habit. Blue lyme grass, also known as blue wildrye, is a cool-season grass growing 2 to 4 feet tall with a tufted to open and spreading habit. Several grasslike sedges grow on slopes, but best-suited species vary by location. Canada wildrye, red fescue and sheep fescue tolerate slopes with a fair amount of shade. Side-oats grama, a sod-forming species, is a good grass for very steep slopes. Sand dropseed and sheep fescue are well suited for slopes where drought may be an occasional issue.

    Tall Ornamental Grasses

    • Several tall, ornamental grasses or grasslike plants are suitable for a slope and are effective at preventing runoff, stabilizing slopes, providing cover for wildlife and creating a natural privacy screen. Big bluestem features summer and fall color and grows 4 to 8 feet tall. Chinese silvergrass Miscanthus sinensis grows up to 8 feet tall and features silvery plumes late in the growing season. Switchgrass grows up to 6 feet tall and provides good winter interest.

    Ditch Plantings

    • Certain grasses are suited for ditches, where they limit erosion as well as slowing and directing water movement. Switchgrass is suitable for ditch slope plantings, while Garrison's creeping foxtail and reed canarygrass withstand the wetness of ditch banks. A fast, short-term solution for a bare ditch is to sod with Kentucky bluegrass, which will not long survive, as the bluegrass cannot handle constant wet conditions.

    Turfgrass

    • If the slope is planned to resemble turf or lawn and receives occasional mowing, certain turfgrasses can be selected that have relatively low maintenance and mowing needs. Centipede, Bahiagrass and Bermudagrasses all have low maintenance requirements and centipede and Bermudagrasses require infrequent mowing. Buffalograss is a low-growing ornamental grass suited for certain slopes that cannot be mowed but where grass cannot be allowed to grow very high, as this grass remains less than a foot tall.

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Growing Grass
  1. Grasses for a Zen Garden
  2. Tall Grasses for Borders
  3. The Best Grass for Zone 6
  4. Decorative Grasses for Full Sun
  5. Atrazine for Bermuda Grasses
  6. Red Grasses
  7. Danthonia Grasses
  8. Purple Grasses
  9. Drought Resistant Grass for Georgia
  10. Good Grass Seed for Vermont
  11. Field Guide for Grasses
  12. Grasses for Sand

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