any alternatives to mulch or rocks for sloped landscaping??

after spending all day yesterday shoveling up old mulch, ivy, weeds, & boulders from my front yard, i now have a clean slate to fill.  does anyone have any hip ideas for land cover besides absolute black mulch, or piling up river rocks?  my boyfriend commented that someone should sell old tire shavings as mulch, as a way to recycle rubber and have a yard that doesn't look like everyone elses.  i know that sounds extreme, but you get my point......  appreciate any input, as i am a first-time homeowner!!

They do make rubber mulch from old tires. Googling "rubber mulch" will get you things like these: http://www.internationalmulch.com/rubber_mulch_colors_rubberific.asp http://www.stopmulching.com/products.html Or there is always lawn paint http://www.grassbgreen.com/ How steep is the slope? You might consider gabions, wire cages filled with rocks. For steep slopes, they can be stacked to build a retaining wall. For shallow slopes they can be laid flat. This page has a bunch of pictures. http://www.ieca.org/PhotoGallery/GabionIllustrations.asp As far as plants go, For shade, there is Pachysandra. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachysandra For sun you might try a low growing juniper such as "blue mat", "blue carpet" or "blue forest" all pictured on this page. http://www.freeweb.hu/fenyokert/juniperus.htm

Ditto on the tire mulch.  We have a showroom in our city...you can get it in colors as vivid as azure blue...and red.  The regular colors black, brown, grey etc.  Fine minched and coarsely ground lumps also.

I am sorry that I don't have a name or direction in which to send you...but they make this sack filled with soil and seed.  You place the sack similar to a sand bag out and water it...and in no time you have a big bumpy shaped thing covered in grass.  I have no idea how they expect you to maintain it.  But it looks so awesome from a distance used in a large quantity, as there is sooo much texture.  In your case this might work as a berm of sorts and lessen soil erosion.

CB