It's impossible to stop the wind from blowing or the rain from pouring down, but you can minimize their effects on your hillside in various ways to keep soil from eroding. The best way to stop soil erosion is to use all the methods at your disposal -- planting shrubs and ground covers with strong root systems; building terraces; installing drip irrigation systems.

Despite the widespread notion that sowing native grass seed is an effective method to control soil erosion, studies show that such slopes have more erosion, according to horticulturist Bert Wilson at Las Pilitas Nursery in Santa Margarita, California.