Native Plants

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Sunday - October 04, 2015

From: Trophy Club, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Grasses or Grass-like, Shrubs, Trees
Title: Restoring riverfront from Blanco Flood
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

We have cleared our riverfront from the Blanco Flood and I am now looking for help in replanting native trees/grass on our property. Our home was in the Flood of Hayes county Memorial Weekend. I am looking for advise/help in trying to restore the riverfront. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER:

On our Special Collections page we have a special list of plants, Central Texas Riparian Restoration Species, recommending species that are appropriate for the restoration of your riverfront.

Grasses are very important components of the restoration. Here are several from the list that are excellent choices:

Andropogon glomeratus (Bushy bluestem) grows in full sun.

Chasmanthium latifolium (Inland sea oats) grows well in shade and partly shaded areas.

Panicum virgatum (Switchgrass) grows in sun and part shade.

Sorghastrum nutans (Indiangrass) grows in sun, part shade and shade.

Tripsacum dactyloides (Eastern gamagrass) grows in part shade.

Here are suggestions for trees from the list:

Cephalanthus occidentalis (Common buttonbush) is more a shrub than a tree and grows 6 to 12 feet.

Platanus occidentalis (American sycamore)

Populus deltoides (Eastern cottonwood) is fast growing.

Salix nigra (Black willow) is fast growing.

Taxodium distichum (Bald cypress)

Texas State University has a webpage with the title Disaster Recovery Resources addressing the Memorial Weekend flood. Though they were done early in June some of the videos have information that is still useful. You can find the workshops by searching on YouTube for "Blanco Riparian Workshops". Here is the link to the workshop with the title "What to Plant after the Flood" by Bill Niemann of Native American Seed.

The Wildflower 2015 Fall Native Plant Sale occurs Saturday, Oct. 10 and Sunday, Oct. 11 with Wildflower "Members Only" day on Friday, Oct. 9. Most (if not all) of the plants listed above appear on the Plant Sale Plant List.