Steep bank to plant....

The idea is to kill grass. Cover with black weed cover. Plant load of stuff, mainly heathers. Then cover gaps with mulch.

But question is - which comes first:

Should I
(A) - put weed cover down and then cut holes for plants.
OR
(B) plant plants, and then put weed cover down working around plants.

Any advice appreciated.

Steep banks, weed prevention fabric, and mulch, don't usually go too well together.
This is because you tend to get a lot of mulch slippage, especially during times of high winds and heavy rains.

But to answer your query, it should be......

(A) - put weed cover down and then cut holes for plants.

Thanks for reply Irish Garden.

Any suggestion of a better cover instead of mulch?
I guess stones would slip even more - should I just wait for the plants to grow together?

In my experience you will have less slippage if you omit the fabric, instead opting for a deeper layer of mulch.
An angular stone chipping will tend to slip less as well.

But best of all would be to terrace the slope, see here...... [broken link removed]

Hi

Like you we had a steep bank but instead we got it terraced so there is an upper tier and a lower tier, I then put not plastic but a black heavy type mesh and then a good layer of stones it was expensive but worth it the odd weed comes up but I spray once or twice during the heavy growing season and this does the trick. We had mulch once but I found it blew away - drove me mad.