Something different

My backyard is very sloped. When I sit on the deck and look out, I look into my neighbor's trees, not onto the yard or garden. The slope makes mowing very difficult, and my plan has always been to plant things on the slopes that won't need mowing. With the winter onslaught of catalogs, and a resulting mix of optimism and lack of self control, it turns out that this is the year I'll be starting that project.

My starting point will be this corner:

For a little perspective, that is the northeast corner of our lot. Standing in the corner, looking back at the house, looks like this:

In addition to the slope, there are trees both to the north and to the east, so the area is shady.

I'd started thinking about plants for this area last year, so when Prairie Nursery had a free shipping special a few weeks ago, I couldn't resist. I ordered 4 Sweet Joe Pye Weed, 5 Wild Geranium, 5 Maidenhair Fern, and 4 Bishop's Cap. Last weekend I spent some time with a tape measure, graph paper, and colored pencils, figuring out which plants will go where.

I was so proud of my work, that it took a few days for me to realize the area is nowhere near ready for new plants. About 60% of my yard is creeping Charlie, and this corner is no exception. The plants will be arriving in 3" pots; they won't be big enough to win a fight with Charlie.

So, this is plan A:

I laid a tarp over the area, in the hopes that the tarp would smother everything underneath it. The plants won't arrive for about two months, so the tarp has plenty of time to do its job. Fingers crossed; I don't really have a plan B.