what best to plant ...

[mwinfrance]

Just a point about Ivy, We have now got what I've seen referred to as "killer hornets" ( asian hornets ).The big bad tempered dangerous bee killers, they adore Ivy when it is flowering, every Ivy plant near' us last year looked like it had it's own major swarm of them, and they got very aggressive if anyone was with a few metres of the place the Ivy was growing.Fair number of people got stung, and a friend who works as a gardener for our mairie said that having Ivy is the best way to have them arrive and lay claim to the surrounding area.

They build their nests / hives in the pines here, but go wild over Ivy flowers, like stroppy football fans after 10 pints. If these asian hornets are already on the south coast of the UK, you don't want Ivy.

Given that Cornwall isn't so far away from us in Brittany, and the climate is similar ( and you'll be warming up to our temps within a year or so ) even if they are not there yet, they soon will be. We saw the first of them about 4 to 5 years ago, just pre-Covid..Now they are endemic.Ive been seeing them around our wood pile , my felled logs, and our one ( soon to be removed this month because of them ) conifer since easter already this year.

We have various honeysuckles and jasmins ( and lots of flowers SWMBO loves flowers ) as do neighbours.We don't have a problem with the asian hornets around any of the other plants or flowers, nor do the neighbours.

Only around the abandoned house next door , which has Ivy well over the roof line and a garden full of it and brambles.The brambles don't interest them much, which is weird because standard wasps and hornets like it.

But Ivy flowers, it's like they are on crack and PCP. you try and swat them or bat them away, they don't back off, they look at you and them come at you..You can almost hear their little insect brains doing the <Glaswegian accent>"hey you jimmy"</Glaswegian accent>.

Attacked by them, I don't think an epipen would save you.

 

[dannyr]

find some extra rocks (b'lieve you hav'em in Cornwall?) and make a rockery herb garden with a bit of variegated ivy to hold it together - may also slighty bolster the Cornish 'hedge as it settles - perennials like marjoram, thyme should be easy and spread themselves

sorry about your killers mwin, but ivy flowers are great late autumn feed for many flying insects including hoverflies, butterflies etc and then the berries are winter food for birds - anyway it takes several years before ivy is mature enough to flower, and then if you really don't want it to, just trim hard late summer

one difference, I'd say - not so many pines in Cornwall for any nesting

 

[Phil Pascoe]

South

Can't quite tell from the photos, but how much sun does the bank/hedge receive? If it's a reasonable amount then Aubrecia and Phlox should do well there. They both trail down a wall or slope and look spectacular when in flower, this time of year.

South facing and sheltered.

 

[Adam W.]

Bindweed.

 

[clogs]

Clematis *early and lates, flowers most of the time* for the fence and more rocks and Alpines for the slope.....
both will need little maintainence once etsblished....

 

[mwinfrance]

find some extra rocks (b'lieve you hav'em in Cornwall?) and make a rockery herb garden with a bit of variegated ivy to hold it together - may also slighty bolster the Cornish 'hedge as it settles - perennials like marjoram, thyme should be easy and spread themselves

sorry about your killers mwin, but ivy flowers are great late autumn feed for many flying insects including hoverflies, butterflies etc and then the berries are winter food for birds - anyway it takes several years before ivy is mature enough to flower, and then if you really don't want it to, just trim hard late summer

one difference, I'd say - not so many pines in Cornwall for any nesting

Only way I could trim the place next door would be with a bulldozer, or maybe explosives. The house and garden is just one amorphous lump of Ivy and Brambles..But yeah, I hear you about it being good for other insects and birds.We encourage both.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I spent three weeks in Concarneau in both '68 and '69. Brittany is a lovely Country.

 

[Lons]

If you want to obliterate it very quickly then mile a minute / Russian Vine will do that, it almost grows in front of your eyes as you watch but it's very invasive and will need trimming back if it's spreading on to area you don't want it, easy enough with shears or an electric hedge cutter though

 

[Scruples]

to cover this up? I can't pull the hedge down, 1/ because it's landlocked, and 2/ because we haven't the inclination. The ground behind it is higher and apparently no one legally owns it. Why there's a bloody great post on top of a hedge, who knows?
View attachment 158523View attachment 158523

It looks like the remnants of an old dry stone wall. Plenty of stone showing in the image. The shrub on the other side might be planted at the level of the top of the wall so this might be a retaining structure terracing your space.
I'd be tempted to clear away the growth, get down to the stonework to see how complete it is. Dry stone builders would be easy to get hold of in Cornwall and the materials look like they are already there so it'll be a repair job.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

They are also bloody expensive and everything has to be carried in and out through the bungalow. That's a no no.

 

[Crazy Dave]

Have you thought about getting free estimates from landscaping chaps, if nothing else you'll get some ideas from them and who knows someone might give you a reasonable quote.
Good luck

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I'd feel a bit of a fraud doing that, we've a whole load of expenses looming so nothing will be done that costs much.

 

[Qwercus]

to cover this up? I can't pull the hedge down, 1/ because it's landlocked, and 2/ because we haven't the inclination. The ground behind it is higher and apparently no one legally owns it. Why there's a bloody great post on top of a hedge, who knows?
View attachment 158523View attachment 158523

Hottentot fig Carpobrotus Edulis, it spreads down slopes from top to bottom and requires no maintenance. It's classed as an invasive species though.

 

[Spectric]

I doesn't look quite such a heap from a different perspective.

That does not look like something you can just hide or cover up, think of it as a woodworking project and you know that cutting corners always seem to come back to bite. It needs a cleanup and rubbish removal which would help, then a row of nice wooden planters with a trellis upstand lined up in front of it and then some plants.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I know what it needs, but as I can't do it myself it's not going to happen.

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

Ground cover ivy, thern once a year burn it back to improve the soil.
A few ground covering roses. Then a nice Clermatis. That will grow up through the ivy and the roses.
Will take a season or two, but worth it.

 

[Cordy]

Yes, Land Registry, combined with Google Earth might help on ownership.
As an ex fence erector I think the fence was put up by your neighbour -- they would want the 'best side' facing towards them, ie the posts not visible to them.
They would happily sacrifice the slope for obvious reasons

What to plant ?
You could have a look at what is holding the soil together on local steep banks.

Think about Heather, Ferns, & Various grasses could be my advice-- personally I don't like Ivy Plants.

Clematis. a lovely plant but not what I would recommend

 

[Spectric]

If you want a ground cover plant then look no further than this

https://hayloft.co.uk/product/gunnera-magellanica/pt15gum01-in21
I planted a small plant and it now covers everything so needs hard control but up on your mound it would grow well.

 

[Cordy]

Also, I would add to my previous post.
Do not remove the stones, rocks etc, this would lead to soil erosion by heavy rain etc.-- the last thing that you want

 

[Jacob]

....
As an ex fence erector I think the fence was put up by your neighbour -- they would want the 'best side' facing towards them, ie the posts not visible to them.
....

Usually t'other way around. Best side out. It's your fence if you have the posts - and bank in this case.
I'd look at pulling out the stone/rubble you can see and adding it to the retaining wall you already have, building up a neat dry stone retaining wall a little way, but sloping back for stability.
Then just tidy up, bung on a load of seeds as per previous suggestions, or leave it to take care of itself - it'd soon be covered.
Then as stuff grows trim it back with a strimmer/sickle/scythe etc. Don't pull plants out, least of all dig them, as left to themselves with no loose soil or bare patches they'll keep the bank together.