Native Plants
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Friday - May 07, 2010
From: Ponder, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Erosion Control
Title: Plants to stem bank erosion in Ponder, Texas
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
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 plant in that area. Any advice?ANSWER:
You can visit the Texas—North Central Recommended page to find a list of plants native to the area that are commercially available for landscaping. Grasses with their extensive fibrous root systems are especially effective in preventing erosion. Here are few listed on that page that do well in full sun in a streambank location:
Andropogon gerardii (big bluestem)
Muhlenbergia lindheimeri (Lindheimer's muhly)
Muhlenbergia reverchonii (seep muhly)
Poa arachnifera (Texas bluegrass)
Tripsacum dactyloides (eastern gamagrass)
Sorghastrum nutans (Indiangrass)
Here are some other plants that frequent streamsides:
Cephalanthus occidentalis (common buttonbush)
Conoclinium coelestinum (blue mistflower)
Hibiscus laevis (halberdleaf rosemallow)
Lobelia cardinalis (cardinalflower)
Here are photos from our Image Gallery:
More Erosion Control Questions
Native plants to prevent erosion in Maryland
February 03, 2009 - Please can you recommend native plants for a north-facing slope, under pine trees? I live in Maryland near the border between the Coastal Plain and Piedmont Plateau, where we have cold to mild Winter...
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Erosion Control for Shady Ditches
January 24, 2013 - What plants can you recommend for erosion control along shady ditches in Northwest Indiana?
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Plants for a bank too steep to mow
June 24, 2009 - Like the inquiry made in late June of 2008, mine involves a bank that is too steep to mow. However, ours is facing south. I am looking for a native grass, plant or groundcover. Any suggestions?
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Plants for steep embankment on the Missouri River in Nebraska
July 01, 2009 - Hi, My embankment along the Northeast Nebraska shoreline
of the Missouri River is eroding the land away. Do you have
any suggestions for seed I could throw over the side of
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Erosion control in Ft. Wright KY
June 02, 2010 - My house sits on a hillside. On the back and behind a somewhat large concrete deck there is a retention wall that protects the deck, but after that there is this large area (at least 24X20 ft), that ...
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