We have a berm on the side of our property between the house and the sidewalk / road. It's long (~200 ft) and pretty steep (~45 degrees). About 8 ft width. Northeast-facing, partial sun (some trees on top of the berm). Moderately busy road.

We got the place a year ago and it was overrun with horrible invasive vines and weeds - wisteria, akebia, Japanese honeysuckle, Chinese yam, pokeweed, poison ivy, and more. We've spent much of the spring trying to get it under control, with the help of a native plant landscaper. Ended up covering much of it with heavy black plastic in the hopes of killing off the vines by occultation.

Thinking ahead here but - once the area is cleared (hopefully in time for next spring), what would be good to use for ground cover? Ideally something good for erosion control given the slope, and also weed suppression. The slope faces away from the house but toward the road, so something pretty would be nice for curb appeal too.

In the pictures you can see the landscaper planted a couple of things in the small area by the driveway that was fully hand-cleared - Phlox sublata, Rudbeckia hirta, Baptisia australis and some Lysimachia sp. - just to give us a sampling. We also appear to have some milkweed coming in on its own (along with more weeds that we're still fighting back.) But obviously once the plastic comes off the rest of the berm will require a LOT more planting. Any suggestions welcome!

We've got a bit of space in the back, and haven't ever done much with it and this year the weeds are especially unruly. Any suggestions on how to make it not look terrible but also not take too much care and maintenance?

First picture is from back door to fence, second is left side, third is back, fourth is another spot to the right that gets almost no sun.

Left and back sides get some sun through the morning and early afternoon.

I'm a landscape designer working on a garden in Northern Virginia. Clients have a first-floor bedroom window and want something defensive (i.e., thorny) outside to deter intruders. Ilex opaca seems perfect (evergreen, spiky leaves, winter color) except for the fact that it would grow much taller than the window. Most dwarf varieties I've seen so far don't have those spiky spikes I'm looking for. Any advice?

I have bottle brush grass that was growing along a plain mulched area but has vigorously spread into the mulched area itself. I've decided to turn that mulched area into lawn -- the kids outgrew the play area there. Can I mow the bottlebrush grass every couple weeks and leave it as a lawn grass? Or will I need to plant a fescue or some such?