How to Keep Mulch on Slope :7 Effective Ideas

Looking for ideas on how to keep mulch on slope in your backyard?. Great, then you will find this article helpful. Mulching on a slope can be challenging.

If your home is on slopy ground, it can be challenging to undertake certain activities such as gardening, mowing the lawns, and others.

If you still want to be able to garden in your slopy yard, you will have to do things differently than if it were normal even ground. One of those major problems people face in this regard is keeping their mulch on slope to stay in place without sliding down with rainwater, gravity, or heavy wind.

Sometimes, wet mulch can move as a mass, which can present a risk of mudslide than an untreated slope. The speed of migration is dependent on the steepness of the slope, the type of mulch used, and how much water flows down it when it rains.

The best way to keep your mulch from migrating down with gravity depends on these factors.

This is because mulch on a hillside is likely to roll away and go down the slop at some point if there is no support.

To help you get good results with your gardening adventures on a slope, here are some effective ways to keep mulch in place on a slope.

Also Read:

How to keep mulch from blowing away with the wind

How to Keep Mulch from Washing Away on  Slope

Here are some effective ways to keep mulch in place on a slope.

1). Mulch Netting or Biodegradable Jute Blankets

If you are dealing with fine-textured mulch like compost or aged manure, mostly is not stable until it settles in a bit with the help of moisture and time.

This keeps the mulch evenly spread and in place, a mulch netting can be spread over the surface and anchored thoroughly with landscape pins.

The pressure from the netting holds mulch firmly against the soil while still allowing water to enter through the net holes. This enables the mulch to bind well with the soil beneath it.

If you are willing to invest some money for a quality landscaping net, then this Sandbaggy Jute netting comes recommended for tough erosion control for hills and slopes.

But if you’re on the low-budget side, you can use a cheap bird netting and anchor it with old wire hangers, cut up, and bend them into U-shaped staples.

However, if your slope is rocky, netting or blanket are not suitable options.

To capture washed-down dirt particles from above, use a coarse mulch, such as chipped wood, underneath the blanket or net.

This is one of the ways to keep mulch in place without edging.

2). Use Terraces

Using terraces on your slopy yard is another effective way to keep mulch on a slope, especially in gardening. With steep slopes, it’s almost impossible to plant a garden without creating terraced sections.

Use terraces to portion the slope into smaller flat surfaces. This gives the soil a place to stay and allows you to plant your garden without worrying about the mulch rolling down the slope.

Terraces work well for both steep and slight slopes. You just have to make sure you are using the proper design depending on the type of slope you are dealing with.

3). Landscape Edging

Landscape edging also works perfectly when you are trying to keep your mulch in place on a slope.

They add aesthetic appeal to your garden as well. They come in an astonishing array of designs and prices and can be used for both small and large particle mulches such as chipped wood.

Try to purchase landscape edging that is high enough to keep all the mulch where it needs to be despite the slope.

You can buy flexible rubber or plastic edging on a roll for a wide, gradual slope or fancy poundable pieces for a narrower area where you want organic mulch to help you establish shrubs or bulbs.

Other materials like using snow fencing or decorative wire pieces to hold the mulch down will reduce the pressure on the mulch from moving downhill.

Well, you can find different styles of landscape edging to purchase online or in your local store. Like this traditional no dig landscape edging.

You can use these edging on several rows while evenly spacing them down the face of the slope, or place them only on a particularly steep spot on an uneven, rocky slope. The steeper the slope, the closer together the rows should be.

4). Make a Trench

This basically involves digging a little barrier around your gardens to create a trench that will keep your mulch from going too far in case it moves.

The trench doesn’t have to be deep. It can be around 4 inches deep and go around the flower bed or the garden.

The trench should be able to catch any of your washed-out mulch. You can always put the mulch back wherever it needs to be.

This is one of the cheapest ways to prevent your mulch from moving downhill. Because it doesn’t require the purchase of anything.

5). Avoid Using Plastic Lining Under Your Mulch

The reason why many people use a plastic lining under the mulch is to prevent weeds and other issues.

But due to the slippery nature of the plastic lining, the mulch is likely to shift off easily especially with a sloping ground involve.

If you want the mulch to stay in one place, then removing the plastic lining will help.

Well, but just in case you still want to use the plastic underneath, some people have taken to using multiple layers of mulch in lieu of using plastic lining barriers. You could lay down some mulch and then water things before adding a second layer.

The term mulch can refer to different things and some are actually made of light materials. There are some types of mulch that are going to stay in place better than others. Those made with light materials can easily be blown away.

Heavier mulch will stay well on a slope because it won’t be easily moved by wind or rainwater. Mulch such as wood chip and shredded bark are heavier and works well on slopes. So if you must choose, get the heavier wood chips.

This makes them hold down a lot more efficiently and you won’t likely have to worry about losing too much mulch unless you have a really pronounced slope.

Also, pine straw can work out fine even if you wouldn’t think that it would be ideal at first glance. This works because the pine needles wind up getting stuck together and they just kind of stay where you put them.

Pine straw might even be the best overall mulch style to use on a slope because of how well it stays down.

How to Keep Mulch From Washing Away on Steep Slope

When you are dealing with a steep slope, it can be tricky. One of the best ways to keep mulch in place on a steep slope is by using terraced sections.

Steep slopes can be a fair bit trickier than dealing with a normal type of slope. This will prevent the mulch from going too far downslope in case it moves downhill.

You could also build structures to hold your gardens on a slope and ensure that they’re secured well to the house or whatever else is nearby.

Overall, if you’re willing to terrace sections of a slope and make big terrain alterations, you’re going to be able to do a lot. However, there are situations where the terrain just isn’t well-suited for gardening.

Final Thoughts Mulching on a Slope

The above are some of the effective ways to keep mulch on a slope from moving down. You will have to examine your situation and the slope and choose which of these options is best for you.

Terraces are best for annoying or steep slopes. Using landscape netting or landscape edging is also good depending on the situation.

Choosing the right mulch will also help you to get things to stay in place better. Generally, heavier types of mulch will do a better job of staying in place, but some types of light mulch might work fine if they clump together or stick together well.

In a nutshell, take your time to examine things and figure the way forward. All these above are hillside mulch ideas to help you work on your slopy yard effectively.