DIY Tip for Anchoring Plants on a Steep Slope in Your Yard

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If you have a steep hill in your yard that erodes easily, here’s a DIY tip that can help hold plants in place and reduce erosion.

• Cut the legs off old panty hose.
• Fill each leg of the panty hose with potting soil.
• Tie a knot in the end of the panty hose to hold in the dirt.
• Position the dirt filled panty hose on the hill.
• Cut pieces of metal coat hanger to length.
• Bend coat hanger pieces into a “U” shape to act as anchors.
• Insert the wire anchors into the panty hose and ground.
• Cut holes all the way through the panty hose for plants.
• Set bedding plants in the holes.
• Cover the slope and panty hose with a thick layer of mulch.

Watch this video to find out more.

Further Information

• Erosion Control (video)
• How to Landscape a Steep Hillside on Your Yard (video)
• How to Plant Ground Cover to Prevent Erosion (video)
• Controlling Groundcover (video)

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Danny Lipford: If you have a slope in your yard like this, you’ll probably realize how hard it is to get anything to grow on the slope. But Tricia has a solution to this that involves using panty hose.

Tricia Craven Worley: Yes, panty hose. Pretty different, huh?

Danny: Oh, this is pretty different. There’s a lot of different uses for panty hose, but I’ve never seen anything like this.

Tricia: Well, kind of looks like land sausage, right?

Danny: Yes, a little bit.

Tricia: Well, this is a really fun tip. You know panty hose just go to waste once they get a run, and this is a great way to recycle it. I took the panty hose, stuffed it with a potting soil mixture of a lot of really good things. Then I took a coat hanger and cut it into pieces. Now, there are two ways to do it, because what you want to do is attach this to your hillside. I made these so that they just clamp like this, but if you want to you can make big clamps that go over the whole thing and really hold it in place.

Danny: Now I see, okay.

Tricia: Now, after you’ve staked it that way, the next thing you want to do is cut holes. And again, you can cut them with the scissors. And again make sure you cut all the way through, because you wanted to go through and actually root in there.

Danny: Okay, and I guess the idea is that this is going to deteriorate, and after awhile it will all become part of the landscape, so that it really holds to keep anything from eroding.

Tricia: That’s right. It will take awhile for it to deteriorate, but in the mean time we’re going to finish the process by covering it with this fabulous mulch, which is going to beautify the whole area and help keep it in place. Doesn’t that look nice?

Danny: Yes really nice. It’s a great idea.