Native Plants
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Wednesday - April 23, 2008
From: Honey Brook, PA
Region: Northeast
Topic: Erosion Control
Title: Native plants to stabilize a steep bank in Pennsylvania
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I would like to use native plantings to stabilize a steep bank of a septic leach field in eastern Pennsylvania. My purpose is to control erosion and to eliminate the need for mowing. What would you recommend?ANSWER:
Grasses, because of their extensive fibrous root systems that hold the soil, are ideal plants to stabilize a steep area and prevent erosion. You can find native grasses that are commercially available in Pennsylvania by choosing Pennsylvania from the map on our Recommended Species page and then narrowing your search to Grass/Grass-like species under "Habit".Here are several good candidates for grasses from that list:
Bouteloua curtipendula (sideoats grama)
Elymus canadensis (Canada wildrye)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)
Sporobolus heterolepis (prairie dropseed)
All these grasses will mix well with wildflowers and they have attractive shapes and seed heads.
You can return to the Pennsylvania Recommended list for shrubs and wildflowers to plant with the grasses. Again, you can narrow your search by the plant "Habit", "Light Requirement", or "Soil Moisture" to find the perfect plant for the space.
Since I don't know the sun/shade situation or the soil moisture for your site I will recommend a few hardy perennials that will grow in a variety of habitats and help with the stabilization.
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Ceanothus americanus (New Jersey tea)
Conoclinium coelestinum (blue mistflower)
Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf tickseed)
Gaultheria procumbens (eastern teaberry) is a low-growing evergreen plant that could be used alone for a groundcover that would not need to be mowed.
Lupinus perennis (sundial lupine)
if the erosion is already very serious, you might want to consider using erosion-control blankets to stabilize the erosion area until the plants can take over the job. The erosion-control fabric works by slowing the runoff water and allowing sediments to fall out rather than be washed away. Seeds are sown under the erosion-control material and grow up through the matting when they germinate. You can insert plants into the soil by cutting through the matting. The roots of the plants that are growing through the erosion-control material anchor the soil to stop the erosion. If you use erosion-control blankets made of biodegrable material, they will eventually disappear leaving the plants to control the problem. You can read about a stream bank stabilization project implemented by Department of Environmental Services, Arlington, Viriginia.
More Erosion Control Questions
Groundcover for erosion control in Missouri
July 23, 2008 - Can you suggest a ground cover to stop erosion on a slight slope in my backyard? I live in Missouri - the soil is very poor in this area and has lots of rock underneath the soil. The yard drains int...
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Flowering Deer Resistant Ground Cover for Dry Rocky Soil: Alabama
March 26, 2012 - My question has been partially answered in the FAQ but I live in Birmingham where the soil is clay and rocky so it's a little different. I want to plant on a rocky slope (small rocks like the size of...
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Plants to control hillside erosion in Virginia.
November 21, 2007 - Good Morning, Mr Smarty Plants, I need your advice and guidance.
I live in a condo complex in Virginia and we have a hill/slope that is eroding. It also has two very nice tall trees that partially sh...
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Native plants for eroding hillside in Kansas
May 08, 2009 - We have a creek running thru our property and the hill running down to it is about 30 feet tall, in some places almost straight down, some sloping. Some is in shade, some full sun. We would like som...
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Fast-growing ground cover for creekside
May 18, 2014 - Hi Mr. Smarty Plants.
I live in Austin Texas and am looking for an aggressively spreading ground cover or grass to plant along a small creek on the back of my property in order to help with soil er...
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