Seeking something to stop mulch/pea gravel from sliding down

[Bamboozled]

My sloped backyard is an all-season weed jungle. I'd like to lay down 10 mil plastic sheeting in various places and cover it with mulch in some areas and pea gravel in others.

The challenge of course is that previous experimentation resulted in the the mulch and pea gravel sliding down in short order and exposing the weed fabric/sheeting.

I've seen this type of thing but the holes are too big and too tall for what I'm going for:

What seems like it might work is something like this- a flexible mat with ridges spaced about 4" apart and about 2" high:

Haven't found anything online. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated- thanks!

 

[Sheal]

I think whatever you try the ground will still slide, so think terracing would be a better idea Bamboozled.

 

[Bamboozled]

Yeah I think you're probably right Sheal, thanks for the reply. I was hoping to create a non-terraced, more natural hillside look, but maybe it's not feasible. Right now I pulled/scraped most of the weeds and covered some areas in plastic sheeting until I figure something out. Cat inspector not impressed lol.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Grow bags made of a porous fabric will allow for something more along the lines of what you want as will triangular crush rock. Using rounded anything would be annoying. I have a fairly steep slope and use the packing base as a small road for my mower to get into a uphill shed and for paths and underlayerment for paver stones since sand washes away at the edges of the stone when I have attemped that normal method. Erosion control mats are common and if you have enough sun to grow stabilizing roots of some sort should allow for grasses and plants to establish without washing away.

 

[Bamboozled]

Hey thanks for this, it's helpful. Maybe grow bag fabric, which seems to have a bit of friction to it, and triangular rock would work. I'll look into erosion control mats too. I've tried growing ground cover but the weeds took over.

 

[DirtMechanic]

Hey thanks for this, it's helpful. Maybe grow bag fabric, which seems to have a bit of friction to it, and triangular rock would work. I'll look into erosion control mats too. I've tried growing ground cover but the weeds took over.

Weeds with aggressive deep roots are your best friends it seems.

 

[Bamboozled]

The worst here are the ones which look like clumps of grass- hard to pull out by hand, I usually use a small pick.

 

[DirtMechanic]

The worst here are the ones which look like clumps of grass- hard to pull out by hand, I usually use a small pick.

Maybe reconsider the values of grass in the reclamation process?

 

[Bamboozled]

Whoa, that's beautiful- thanks for passing it along. Not sure it's practical at my place due to the other weeds, and the watering requirements for grass, but I appreciate the video, especially the conservation/preservation angle.