What to plant on a sledding hill?

I got an awkward spot of land... I have a hill that is used for hay, I am slowly turning this hill into a perennial system with nut bearing trees and shrubs, and tall fruit bearing trees like persimmons. A long time ago this land was fenced in and grazed by cattle, after that it was cut for hay, and there is this one particular spot of the hill that was so steep, they would often have round bales roll down it. My family and I love sledding down this super steep section of land, but now I am unable to mow it without risking flipping my small tractor... I do not want it to grow up with thorns and weeds, but I know that if I am unable to mow it, it will keep doing this. I am now trying to figure out if there is a way to grow something there that can still be sled around, but keep the grass down. My thoughts right now are leaning toward small shrubs like hazelnuts. Any ideas would be appreciated!

Ha ha! makes a change from lawn ideas!

How much snow do you get? Hazelnuts here can make pretty tall shrubs, so I'm not sure they would be ideal for you. Maybe something like currant bushes/blueberries (depending on your soil/climate) with low maintenance understory like comfrey.

Anything truly low maintenance tends to monoculture and world domination I suspect.

Nancy Reading wrote:Ha ha! makes a change from lawn ideas!

How much snow do you get? Hazelnuts here can make pretty tall shrubs, so I'm not sure they would be ideal for you. Maybe something like currant bushes/blueberries (depending on your soil/climate) with low maintenance understory like comfrey.

Anything truly low maintenance tends to monoculture and world domination I suspect.

Truthfully what I am looking for is the opposite of most systems... usually with a slope so steep, erosion and drought become prevalent issues, terracing, or swales are often the approach to fix this, however either of those would make sledding difficult. Sledding is one of the best things to do in the winter with family, so it is important to me. I've even had people come and visit just to sled this epic hill. I live in southern Ohio, some years we get 16 inches for weeks at a time, other years we only get a handful of snowy days all winter. I suspect any delicate bushes like blueberries would struggle and dry out. Several blueberries I've had died, I believe because the soil is not acidic enough, however I have some growing downhill from a pine tree that are doing well. I've thought about planting seaberry and hawthorn, but I imagine hitting either of those thorny bushes at 10 mph with snow in your eyes would make an unpleasant experience...

If I were in this situation I would want to plant low-growing native grasses like these conservation grasses.  Buffalograss, Curly Mesquite, and Blue Grama.  Plant these three together for a maintenance-free area.

I would suggest finding out if these will grow in your part of the world (Ohio) or what low-growing grasses will.

This thread will give you some information:

https://permies.com/t/93789/Love-Affair-Buffalograss-Buchloe-dactyloides

Since sledding is desired it seems to me that shrubs and trees would be in the way of the sleds. Though, I like the idea of having them in the surrounding areas.

There are some low growing plants like creeping thyme that are pretty, though I wonder if the plants would interfere with the sledding.

Do you sled all year round?

You could also do a prairie planting. Switchgrass, bluestem, echinacea, rudbeckia, rattlesnake master, false indigo, joe pye….there’s tons of gorgeous native plants perfectly adapted for your climate that die back to the ground in the winter. A planned prairie/meadow, once established, really only needs to be maintained once a year, typically a mowing or bushwhacking at the end of winter. But you could also do that at the end of fall. It doesn’t provide as much habitat for critters that way, but we can’t let the Perfect be the enemy of the Good.

There are a few decent books around about creating this kind planting.
Larry Weaner’s Gardening Revolution has a chapter about it.
James Golden’s View From Federal Twist discusses the techniques he used.

There are a number of others that I’d list (I have them on my bookshelf), but I’m sick on the couch. I see this thread is a few months old, but let me know if you’re interested and I can do another reply later on.

I’m interested in what you do, as my parents are in a similar situation. They have an awesome sledding hill, and they want to keep it mostly open, but as my father ages, he’s far less interested in driving his lawnmower up and down a steep and sometimes slippery grade. We have talked about establishing a meadow there. I’m in the analysis-paralysis part of the project, hahaha.

Good luck!
Daniel

A wildflower meadow would be beautiful and die back pretty flat under the snow. It would also benefit for perennial plants nearby, bringing in pollinators and pest predators.

You'd have to research what is good for your area but some stuff that I have that does really well with absolutely no watering during our summer months where we go without rain and that outcompete the grass are Lupine, Ox eye daisy, a lot of things in the sunflower family