Garden bank covering

Hi all

Been busy in the garden these last few weeks, working on the bank at the rear of the garden. Took a bit of height out of it and reduced the steepness of the slope. Also added to rockery parts and a some new plants to grow in.

My ask is what would you recommend would work well as a topping for the soil? I previously used bark but this is an area I want to turn away from as it held a lot of insects that ate previous plants. So I am looking at a grit or perhaps pebble topping. Any thoughts/suggestions?

I don’t want to leave it just soil as sadly the bank is mainly made of shale, and once the rain lands the shale comes to the surface and looks terrible.

 

I also have a bank that needs planting up, unlike yours it slopes away and down so can't be seen from garden level. I have sandy loam soil and when it's dry it's like dust so it needs something to hold it in place. I'd started to grass seed it but decided that will need strimming regularly, so I've decided to grow ground cover plants with some small shrubs and perennials so that there's little or no maintenance.

It's a good idea but I wonder if the pebbles would stay in place, or gradually move down the slope. I think grit would disappear into the soil.

 

@Scotty2088 ,..you did a good job there and the entire view is easy on the eyes,..it would be a shame to grow anything tall to spoil the view.

Pebbles would be better than Grit as the latter would wash through,..so larger Pebbles would be ideal,..low growing plants would look great with your grasses,..easy maintenance low growing like Seedums/Campanula/Oxalis or similar.