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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.

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

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Thursday - July 02, 2015

From: Dallas, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Erosion Control, Shrubs, Trees
Title: Rocky Stream Bank Plants for Dallas, TX
Answered by: Larry Larson

QUESTION:

Need live stake shrubbery or tree ideas for a rocky stream bank prone to high water. Thank you

ANSWER:

Mr Smarty Plants has answered a few similar questions, most of which are a bit more open in simply calling for erosion control plants.  The shrubs [and trees] suggested in these question/answer pairs should be good candidates:

Erosion Control with perennials for a shady Dallas bank

Shrubs for erosion protection in Arlington TX 

Plants to stop erosion on sandy slope in north central Texas 

Native ground covers for rocky, shady slope in Arlington, TX 

Plants to prevent creekside erosion in Nacogdoches County, Texas  

   As the above discussions don’t really address trees, this is a good opportunity to also discuss the method of using the Wildflower Centers collections to identify more candidates.  One of the links  listed on every page is “Special Collections”.  From that page, you can choose the collection for your area.  In this case, the “North Central Texas” collection is one of the appropriate ones.

   These lists can be reduced to plants with specific characteristics. Selecting “Trees”, there are 30 candidates to consider.  You can then read in the plant record notes on soil, native habitat, speed of growth and several other characteristics that may be important to you in choice of tree.

From these discussions, the plants below may well be good for your application:

Shrubs:    Hibiscus laevis (Halberdleaf rosemallow), Cephalanthus occidentalis (Common buttonbush), Ilex vomitoria (Yaupon)Mahonia trifoliolata (Agarita), Morella cerifera (Wax myrtle)

Trees:

Moist, Rich soil -   Acer negundo (Ash-leaf maple)Aesculus glabra (Ohio buckeye), Juglans nigra (Black walnut),  

Rocky soil - Carya texana (Black hickory)Diospyros texana (Texas persimmon)Juniperus ashei (Ashe juniper)Rhus lanceolata (Prairie flameleaf sumac)

 

From the Image Gallery


Halberdleaf rosemallow
Hibiscus laevis

Common buttonbush
Cephalanthus occidentalis

Yaupon
Ilex vomitoria

Agarita
Mahonia trifoliolata

Box elder
Acer negundo

Ohio buckeye
Aesculus glabra

Black walnut
Juglans nigra

Wax myrtle
Morella cerifera

Texas persimmon
Diospyros texana

Ashe juniper
Juniperus ashei

Prairie flameleaf sumac
Rhus lanceolata

More Trees Questions

Removing suckers from Escarpment oak in Austin
October 11, 2010 - I have a small but mature grove of Escarpment Live Oak in my back yard. Five years ago we removed the St. Augustine grass that grew under these oaks and since then root suckers have begun to grow aro...
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Why aren't all blue spruce trees blue?
February 07, 2010 - I have been looking at blue spruce trees recently and I have noticed at a couple tree farms that not all blue spruce look blue at all. Some that are listed as Co. Blue Spruce are very green. The sha...
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Photographing and Identifying trees of Long Island
June 01, 2013 - After being in a car accident I got into photography as sports are a distant memory due to my injuries. As a new hobby I thought of taking pictures of trees and then finding out their species name. ...
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Transplanting a bald cypress from Houston
December 10, 2012 - We would like to transplant a bald cypress from front yard to back. It is about 10 ft tall, 3" trunk diameter, 2-1/2 years old and in good health. Any idea how large the root ball might need to be du...
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Looking for juniper trees (Juniperus ashei) for sale
December 05, 2008 - Does anyone know anyone that sells Juniper trees in pots - the central Texas kind.
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