Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Monday - November 23, 2009

From: West Mifflin, PA
Region: Mid-Atlantic
Topic: Erosion Control
Title: Plants for erosion control in West Mifflin PA
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I have recently had a retaining wall rebuilt in my back yard and an above the ground pool installed. My lawn is uneven with no grass and the hillside is very dry dirt with rocks. What type of plant would be low growing, stop erosion and cover the hillside quickly? The area is not large, perhaps 40 ft. long and 10 ft. high. Should I plant grass seed now (Nov, 2009) or wait until spring 2010?

ANSWER:

The best plants for controlling erosion are native grasses. We wouldn't recommend planting grass seed now; they will not germinate until warm weather returns anyway, and some could easily be lost in winter rains (which we understand comes out as snow in Pennsylvania) or become not viable. The long fibrous roots of grasses will hold the soil, many are perennial and/or self-seeding. Natives will require less water, fertilizer and maintenance.

You also might consider doing something like a small-scale meadow arrangement, with some colorful wildflowers mixed in. First, read two of our How-To Articles, Native Lawns and Meadow Gardening.  If you have weather that permits playing outside, you can begin, in advance of Spring, to prepare the area as suggested in both articles. Some of the grasses we are going to suggest will be taller, others compact and low. You can mix them for an attractive visual effect, and have something pleasant to look at virtually year round.

Finally, for your hillside, there are some low-growing attractive shrubs native to Pennsylvania, some of which are evergreen, that will give some more color and erosion protection. 

We are going to go to our Native Plant Database and give you some suggestions of herbaceous blooming plants, shrubs and grasses native to Pennsylvania that can be combined however you wish for your purposes. 

Follow each link to the page on that plant for particulars on height, sun requirements and soil moisture. Since we don't know how much sun your area has, you can go back to the database and search using Light Requirements, Soil Moisture and so forth, making your own choices.

Native herbaceous blooming plants for Pennsylvania:

Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed)

Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf tickseed)

Lupinus perennis (sundial lupine)

Monarda didyma (scarlet beebalm)

Phlox stolonifera (creeping phlox)

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae (New England aster)

Native shrubs for Pennsylvania: 

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (kinnikinnick)

Epigaea repens (trailing arbutus)

Gaultheria procumbens (eastern teaberry)

Native grasses for Pennsylvania: 

Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)

Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)

Carex blanda (eastern woodland sedge)

Carex texensis (Texas sedge)

From our Native Plant Image Gallery:


Asclepias tuberosa

Coreopsis lanceolata

Lupinus perennis

Monarda didyma

Phlox stolonifera

Symphyotrichum novae-angliae

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

Epigaea repens

Gaultheria procumbens

Andropogon gerardii

Schizachyrium scoparium

Carex blanda

Carex texensis

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Erosion Control Questions

Plants to stem bank erosion in Ponder, Texas
May 07, 2010 - We have a pond with a bridge over the middle in full sun with a steep bank on one side. The bank is difficult to maintain and we need some natural looking low maintenance plants or ground cover to pl...
view the full question and answer

Construction problems on site in Mansfield OH
April 28, 2012 - Last year we had a rectangular above ground pool put in the person who "leveled" for use did a terrible job and basically dug a huge hole for us to put our pool in. The back side of the pool is abou...
view the full question and answer

Grasses for Erosion control in Iowa
September 27, 2012 - We have a sloping yard in the midwest that gets 2-4 hours of sun during the warm weather. When we have large rainfalls, the water just pours down the slope causing a lot of erosion to the surrounding ...
view the full question and answer

Plants for difficult site in Jacksonville, TX
July 07, 2010 - East Texas (Cherokee County) red clay hillside, hard-packed, difficult to get to, 40' of it slopes 4' down in about 6'! Another 30' of it is flat. Between the hillside and the flat clay area is a...
view the full question and answer

Erosion Control with perennials for a shady Dallas bank
July 25, 2013 - Thank you for your help with turf or perennials on a shaded bank, 4000 sq ft, for the Dallas area that has good roots, grows in semi shade to shade, is on a steep bank so cannot mow, and flowers the l...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.