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Over grown hillside
Our back yard is fairly flat, and then there is a hill side with train tracks at the top. The top two thirds has trees, the bottom third is full of weeds and miscellaneous plants I have stuck in the dirt. The spring is the best time for the hill, I have tons of daffodils planted:
they have really started to fill out... but once they are gone the weeds take over. I don't even know how to keep up with it or where to start. I just spend every night outside staring at the hill wishing I could afford someone to come tear it all up and do something pretty with it!
Any tips where to start? How to manage the massive weed issue? The soil is loose, deer frequent the yard, there is a groundhog who lives at the top (and we have an understanding he stays on the hill and leaves my veggies alone). Much of the space is full sun. I have two lavender plants that are happy there. And my Irises seem to like the space too. If they were not all choking in 3ft tall weeds...
Re: Over grown hillside
Gosh. This really is a challenge. Have you thought if introducing an invasive weed to the area? This sounds crazy, I know, but plants like Lily of the Valley, Tawny Lillies, and several varieties of Spurge will grow happily on a hill, will multiple and, with their dense coverage, will squash out any other weeds in the area. Tawny Lillies have gorgeous orange blooms in profusion in mid-summer. Lily of the Valley has delicate white blossoms for several weeks in early-summer.
They wont harm your daffodils, which both sprout and bloom before these plants. They'll be reaching their peak as the daffodils foliage dies out for the season.
The downside to this is, once these plants are introduced, there will be no getting rid of them. LOV and Tawny Lillies are wonderful when kept in a limited area like this, but they'll be there forever. But, they'd certainly be more attractive than a mixed bunch of weeds.
Or, if you like the wildflower look (I do not) you could scatter a variety of sun loving flower seeds throughout the area and let them come up as they may. It could be beautiful.
Lily of the valley won't grow in full sun and are toxic to children and pets if picked. LOV is techincally not invasive anyway. Do not plant invasive plants your neighbors will like you much better and many states have laws against highly invasive plants (I know we do).
I would suggest a spreading groundcover. We have mostly shady spots at home so I'm not very familiar with sunny groundcovers but things like creeping jenny, pacasandra, or sedum/stonecrop would work. They will spread and help keep the soil in place. Make sure you do your reasearch on how easy the groundcover is to control though.
Also go checkout your local library for gardening books, especially the ones dedicated to hard to grow areas. Many of them will have at least one section on growing plants on a hillside.
If you are game for color, I would go the wildflower route. I always see seed blends at the garden center. It will give the hillside a meadow look but I think it would be rather pretty. Many wildflowers are self seeding so you won't have to replant next year.
I might also put some perennials and small shrubs that I really loved closer to the bottom. Beach roses (the one with the smaller flowers and rose hips) or knock out roses would be pretty and durable. With full sun, many perennials would thrive. Blackeyed Susan and Daisys I think would do particuarly well.
If you like fruit, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries would thrive there as well. Choose thornless varieties though so you don't hurt yourself picking them come summer.