Native Plants

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Saturday - May 03, 2014

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Erosion Control, Shade Tolerant, Grasses or Grass-like, Herbs/Forbs, Shrubs, Vines
Title: Shade tolerant plants for erosion from Austin
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

I live in Austin and my house backs up to Shoal Creek. I am looking for a native creeping vine or something that will grow on the shaded bank to help prevent erosion. It should be able to tolerate the flooding that happens 5-7 times per year.

ANSWER:

We are going to start, going to our Native Plant Database and, using the selection list on the left-hand side of the page, check Texas, "grass or grass-like" for HABIT, "perennial" for DURATION, "shade" (2 or less hours of sun a day, or "part shade" (2 to 6 hours of sun) for LIGHT REQUIREMENTS and 1-3 ft for HEIGHT. We started with grass or grass-like because, with long fibrous roots, grasses are usually the best bet in controlling erosion. We will make additional searches for the HABIT of "herb" (heraceous blooming plant), "vine" and "shrub," using the same specifications. You can then follow each plant link to our webpage on that plant to learn if its growing conditions match those in your garden. And you can use the same method to look for more plants, maybe with different specifications, that will suit your purposes better. Before we put any plant on your list, we will check the USDA Plant Profile Map on that plant to ensure that it will grow in or near Travis County. Texas is a very big state, and there are a lot of very different climates, soils and rainfall amounts, so you want to make sure you are planting something where it will grow. The fact that your slope is shady does limit the number of choices.

Bouteloua curtipendula (Sideoats grama)

Carex blanda (Eastern woodland sedge)

Nolina texana (Texas sacahuista)

Smilax pumila (Sarsaparilla vine)

Aquilegia canadensis (Eastern red columbine)

Asclepias tuberosa (Butterflyweed)

Athyrium filix-femina (Common ladyfern)

Berlandiera lyrata (Chocolate daisy)

Capsicum annuum (Chile pequin)

Mahonia repens (Creeping barberry)

Symphoricarpos orbiculatus (Coralberry)

Leucophyllum frutescens (Cenizo)