Native Plants

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Friday - January 03, 2014
From: Saint Louis County, MO
Region: Midwest
Topic: Deer Resistant, Erosion Control, Grasses or Grass-like, Shrubs
Title: Deer Resistance and Erosion Control for St. Louis County MO
Answered by: Larry Larson
QUESTION:
I am looking for deer and rabbit resistant native plants for erosion control on a steep ravine slope with part sun and part shade in St. Louis County MO.ANSWER:
Here is a selection of previous Mr Smarty Plant’s responses to questions that involve both erosion control and deer resistance. Only the first reference is from Missouri, but all give some appropriate direction.
Arnold MO: Low-maintenance grass for retention pond
Limiting erosion around pond from Brooklyn Park MN
Deer-resistant groundcovers for erosion control
Flowering Deer Resistant Ground Cover for Dry Rocky Soil: Alabama
Mr Smarty Plant’s recipe for erosion control is to choose plants that clump and/or have extensive root systems. These larger root systems tend to hold the soil in place to a larger extent than the size of the plant would suggest.
There is a special collection of recommended species for Deer resistance. Rabbit resistance isn’t mentioned in the plant records, but one can hope that deer resistant species are similar. This link leads to the collection of deer resistant species.
Like the other special lists, this can be searched for state, aspect, height and several other important characteristics. Thinking about both of these sets of characteristics, my review of this list suggests the following as suitable plants:
Grasses: Bouteloua curtipendula (Sideoats grama), Carex blanda (Eastern woodland sedge), Carex texensis (Texas sedge)
Shrubs: Ceanothus americanus (New jersey tea), Hypericum prolificum (Shrubby st. johnswort). Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (Coralberry)
If you want a little flowering color, there are 43 native wildflowers that also are shown by searching for “Herbs” in this same collection.
From the Image Gallery
More Erosion Control Questions
Searching for nursery with yellow nutsedge in NC
January 27, 2014 - I'd like to plant yellow nut sedge as a cover to stop erosion in a lot. Where can I buy yellow nut sedge plants near Kinston, North Carolina? Thank you.
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Controlling slugs in a Pacific Northwest strawberry patch
February 04, 2013 - Would love to plant various varieties of strawberries on a bank for erosion control and ground cover. How can we keep the slugs at bay? We are in the the Pacific Northwest
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Erosion control in West Union IA
June 22, 2010 - Erosion control and native grasses/plants for steep, shady slope in northeast Iowa.
We are building a house in northeast Iowa (near West Union in Fayette County). The road that was graded to the ho...
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Plants to prevent erosion in clay soil in Heron, NY
September 07, 2009 - What plants could be used to plant on clay soil, Eastern exposure in full sun to stop erosion on a bay side hill with a steep grade?
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Groundcover to prevent erosion in Florida
November 04, 2012 - I live on a hill and put in a new side driveway and now I am seeing erosion along the driveway and can see the bottom of my concrete. Grass won't grow because its all shaded. What would be the best g...
view the full question and answer
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