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Sunday - October 03, 2010
From: Binghamton, NY
Region: Northeast
Topic: Erosion Control
Title: Plants to prevent riverbank erosion in NY
Answered by: Anne Bossart
QUESTION:
Dear Mr. Smarty Plants, I'm doing research into riverbank erosion in Broome County, NY, and I was wondering if you had some sort of resource that would be able to tell me which species of grasses, shrubs, and trees native to Broome County are best for reducing/eliminating erosion.ANSWER:
Plants that have fibrous root systems or spread by runners are the best for preventing erosion.
You can select plants native to NY by searching our Plant Database using the Combination Search feature and selecting the plant type (trees, shrubs or grasses) and light and moisture conditions. You will also find the Evergreen.ca database helpful since most of the plants native to your area are also native to Ontario. On their Advanced Search page simply select Ontario, native species only, Riparian Habitat and check yes for erosion control. You can cross reference that list of 67 plants with the combination searches for NY on our database and select plants that are readily available in your area.
Here are some of my favourites from those lists:
Grasses
Elymus canadensis (Canada wildrye or canada wild rye)
Hierochloe odorata (Sweetgrass)
Panicum virgatum (Switchgrass)
Schoenoplectus tabernaemontani (Softstem bulrush)
Shrubs
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (Common buttonbush)
Cornus sericea (Redosier dogwood)
Physocarpus opulifolius (Atlantic ninebark)
Rubus odoratus (Purpleflowering raspberry)
Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis (Common elderberry)
Spiraea alba (White meadowsweet)
Trees
Abies balsamea (Balsam fir) Images (from Evergreen.ca)
Larix laricina (American larch) Images (from Evergreen.ca)
Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry)
Thuja occidentalis (Arborvitae)
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