Planting a Bank
Question from Christy:
I have just removed ice plant from my bank and would like to go with native/drought tolerant/succulent/and maybe even some edible plants. I live in San Diego and the bank gets full sun. I have a good idea (from your web-site) about the first three types of plants but I am not sure what fruits or vegetables would work the best. I would appreciate any suggestions you could give me.
Answer from Pat:
Before I can answer your question I have to ask for some more information:
You asked me about planting a bank with succulents and natives but then you mentioned fruits and vegetables. I am so sorry but I don’t understand. Is this bank to be planted with succulents and natives or is it to be planted with fruits and vegetables? Or is there a terraced section on this bank or perhaps multiple terraces that you wish to plant with fruits and vegetables. Please describe the bank and your plans for it more fully so I can answer in a more informed manner.
Hi Pat,
I actually wanted to intermingle different types of plants and wasn’t sure if any edibles could co exist with the other types. My ultimate goal is to use a lot less water and inspire my neighbors to do the same, as my bank faces a lower street.
The bank is not terraced. (65″ wide by 25″ high) I plan on using a variegated leaf prostrata bougainvillea (probably 3, maybe 5), some white rock rose, possibly lavender and fountain grass, some day lilies, fortnight lilies and bush morning glory (some salvia too). I just didn’t know if I could put blueberries or any other edibles with those types of plants. (I also plan on some pockets of succulents – everything would get the same amount of water, would that be too much for the succulents?)
I hope I made my question clearer.
You have now explained your plan fully.
Vegetables and fruit trees cannot be grown on a bank filled with drought-resistant plants and watered in the same manner as the bank as a whole. But yes, you could plant a bank with drought resistant plants and create terraces on the bank for vegetables and fruits. In order to grow fruit trees on a bank, you would first need to create a system of paths, steps, and terraces all over the bank as I have seen done in a number of instances. Then you would plant the smaller terraces with fruit trees and the larger terraces with vegetables.
Vegetables would need far more water than the other plants on the bank and a totally different kind of water system, and you would need to make sure the fruit trees did not shade them and that there were no invasive roots anywhere near the vegetables. Vegetables are not drought resistant plants. They need plenty of water in order to grow and produce good crops. Most fruit trees need infrequent and deep water in order to survive and bear good crops. You also need to be able to prune them properly and this means the terraces must be large enough and level enough for you to safely climb ladders and care for them and pick the fruit. As a start I suggest you look for some good books on building terraces on banks. Photos are a great help and seeing what other people have done to make banks into useable space for vegetables and fruits can give you ideas how to do the same. It can be done and it has been done many times.
Here are some further answers to your several queries regarding planting a bank. (Time constraints earlier today prevented me from answering your questions as fully as I do in this follow-up):
Yes, you can combine vegetables and fruits with ornamentals on a bank. It has been done many times, but in all cases where this has been done successfully the gardeners have constructed an attractive system sloping diagonal paths going up the bank from side to side, and with the addition also of steps and terraces. In order to accomplish your aim and have it be successful, you need to do this also and then your bank would be a delight for you and your neighbors also and inspire them as you want to do. It could also be a source of fruits and vegetables for the family, perhaps for the whole neighborhood, and it could be very good looking. This has been done many times but usually in back yards. You need to begin with a bank in full sun, however. The paths and terraces can be supported with any of the following materials: wood, concrete, brick and mortar, stone and mortar, broken concrete with or without mortar, and concrete block with or without mortar. I have seen terraces and paths on banks made with all these materials and more.
Rabbiteye blueberries do well in acid soil mix in containers or the ground but they need regular irrigation, full sun, moist soil, acid fertilizer, and good care. Some folks have huge success with them and others don’t. Sometimes they get very ratty looking. I would not consider them good candidates for this bank planting unless you terrace a section for fruits and vegetables specifically and give them attentive and appropriate care. Then maybe you would have luck.
Most succulents require far less irrigation than the other plants you mentioned. It depends on the plant. For example: the succulent plant called red apple ice plant requires a lot of water and fertilizer in order to look good. That’s why I don’t recommend it. And chalk fingers (Senecio mandraliscae) also requires more irrigation for a decent appearance than most echeverias and aloes, but it is nonetheless a very good plant. Some tree aloes such as Aloe bainesii need a lot of irrigation, but others such as Aloe arborescens and Aloe traskii don’t, and Aloe ciliaris can get along on sparse irrigation. So it depends on the succulents you plant. But also, among the other plants you mentioned, Bougainvillea requires deeper watering to get going than, for example, day lilies, but day lilies, though indeed they are drought resistant will look ratty and never bloom if forced to prove it. Daylilies need regular irrigation if you want them to bloom and look good, and the same goes for fortnight lilies. The point is you could water the whole thing the same amount but then the value of planting for drought resistance would be lost. The solution is to hire a good irrigation specialist and have a low-impact and drip irrigation system installed that will water each specific plant in a different way according to its needs. Or alternatively learn how to install the system yourself and vary the amount of water each plant gets by putting different emitters that will provide the correct amount of water to each plant according to its individual needs. In this way, yes, theoretically you could use just one water system for all the plants, but no they wouldn’t be getting the same amount of water.
A second aspect of your bank planting that you might not have considered is this: In the case of the other bank planting that I described in several entries elsewhere on this website, all the plants I suggested could grow many years without any pruning, but not so with the plants you say you plan to grow. Vegetables and fruits are high maintenance in regard to planting, watering, fertilizing, and harvesting. When everything is easy-care or no care, you don’t need to climb around on the bank, but many of the ornamentals you have mentioned require annual pruning at least and in some cases more. Fortnight lilies (Dietes) look terrible after a while if not cut to the ground to renew them and also if you don’t take off the seed capsules they’ll come up all over your garden and your neighbors’ gardens too. They also won’t look good. With the yellow kind of fortnight lily, you need to cut the bloom stems to the ground after bloom but not with the white kind, since the stems of the white ones bear blossoms for many years but the seed capsules look awful if not removed. Also with daylilies, you will need to do at least annual cleanup and occasional division and replanting. Flower stems go brown at the end of the bloom season and thus are unsightly unless removed after bloom. Plants eventually stop blooming unless divided. But better and newer kinds of creeping gazanias don’t
Many if not all salvias, to take another example from your list, are not permanent shrubs but need to be either pinched back or cut all the way back to the ground at certain times of year. Also many of them are not long lived. You will see them on a certain bank and admire then for a few years, then they are gone because they died. Mexican sage (Salvia leucantha), to name a popular one that looks good on banks and at roadside, (especially when planted side by side with Copper Canyon daisy [Tagetes lemonii]) is not a shrub. It is a true perennial that renews itself from the ground every winter. Thus Mexican sage needs only light pruning after bloom in fall and then it needs to be cut all the way down to the ground in late winter or early spring after the basal foliage is eight inches or one foot tall. (This is covered under pruning perennials in February in my book, and by the way, the tagetes mentioned above is a true shrub but it needs cutting back hard twice a year after bloom and following up with fertilizer. This is another reason with your type of bank planting you need to provide terraced paths and steps and planting terraces as well, so you have level ground for planting things in the first place and then you can get around and take care of things.
To sum up, yes you can create the bank you are thinking of but it doesn’t sound as if it will look very good unless you terrace first. It is in pretty dramatic contrast also in care when compared to a bank planted with easy drought-resistant plants that bloom all year long or on and off for most of the year, such as bougainvillea, gazanias, lantana, and plumbago, recommended for bank planting elsewhere on this site.
Please follow this link to find out more: https://patwelsh.com/wpmu/blog/planting/plant-to-prevent-erosion-on-a-steep-hillside/)
It is a good thing you are thinking all this out and making a realistic plan before plunging into the planting.
Thank you so much for your follow-up advise.
Unfortunately, even though I would love to terrace and irrigate with a drip system, I am financially unable to do either and must rely on the current irrigation which consists of sprinklers on the bottom and top of the bank (which I plan to change from a spray to more efficient stream type head).
The tagetes (mexican marigold?) and the Mexican Sage sound like good choices.
I will check-out the link as well.
Thanks so much for your reply. Now I understand your problems better.Good luck with planting the bank. Many people face similar limitations currently, and it was always thus when folks were young and getting going with their gardens.
When I began gardening as an adult in my own first gardens my husband Lou and I didn’t have a dime to spend on the garden. I planted whole gardens with cuttings and pass-along plants from friends. Any structures I made had to be done with free recycled items and “found” objects—rocks, broken concrete, old bricks, bits of lumber, and the like that other folks gave me or I found on site and could put to use by adding my muscle into the mix. I have even seen free discarded rubber tires filled with earth and used to support terraces and paths, but you wouldn’t want to use these on the street. On the other hand, perhaps if one were to create something hugely artistic with design and placement and also coated the tires in handsome tones of paint, folks might not object.
I can see that in your case the existing irrigation system is a limiting factor, but how about putting the veggies and fruits on the bottom? Check the soil to see if the water percolates down, thus making these parts moister. If so, you could perhaps construct earthen water basins (or a row of tires as described above) to increase the effect and prevent run-off and grow your fruits and veggies there. Just a thought. Artichokes should look good on a bank but they do need water and fertilizer. Upside down wine bottles stuck down into the ground also make effective edgings for water basins and you can get these for free.
Hi – Looking at your website & reading your great pieces on So Cal gardening and hillside planting.
Need help re: replanting an aged (min 50 years of growth) algerian ivy bank – located in Sunset’s zone 19; The bank is probably 45-60 degrees with an elevation of at least 20 ‘ and currently not irrigated – which could be changed in the renovation. It is the “front yard” to the neigbors, running along the street for 75-100 feet – and has two segments split by an angled drive — so its possible to utilize either one or two plant varieties for interest. Both low water and fire deterrent issues interest us is choosing the replacement. The area is prone to moderate gophers & ground squirrels some seasons. Soil is pretty alkaline w/ some caliche veins. Your suggestions and advice would be great –
Thanks.