Have a stream on our property and am looking to stabilize some of the banks from erosion. They're quite sandy. Any advice on something native (perennial) that'll grow?

Often a the plant is only a band-aid on the real issue. Step back and figure out why the bank is eroding in the first place and fix that first.


Whats native to the stream? Best bet is to go look at some stable banks on that river in similar conditions and see what is growing on them and try to match that mixture of plants.


Willow is probably one of the easiest and hardiest things to plant along a river to stabilize the banks.
Rye is a great way to get something on the bank and growing. But it will only last the season. Often used as a cover crop when a more native seed mix is planted.


You local SWCD, NRCS or Extension Office is likely a good source of local information for seed mixes.

Reed canary grass will probably beat ya to it. If you have the equipment or access to it, rip rap in those problem bends would be the best start on a project like this.

Thousands of trees are really the only plant that will stabilize a stream. Don't cut any bush, tree or weed within 50 yards of the bank ever, all those roots work together.
Mike Kelly gives good advice.

Check with your county NRCS office. They will help you with design, permits and sometimes cost sharing.

Use rip rap as your last option. Putting rip rap on an unstable bank generally just means you going to be slowly dumping rip rap into the river. It will get undermined from just upstream or downstream of where the rip rap ends, or underneath it on the outside bends. It will eventually fall into the river and you are back to square one. Plus it is generally the most expensive option!

Trees and deep rooted grasses or shrubs are much better long term because the roots hold everything in place, and have the same or better roughness to break up the flow into the bank. They also grow and heal themselves over time so the bank become more stable as time goes on.

is it the stream eroding he bank or the run off ?

I believe that. The county has dumped tremendous amounts of rip rap and shot stone in local streams as road maintenance and each year for forty plus years the streams eat the stone and the county dumps more. What happens when the engineer in charge is a high school graduate with no other experience.

^^^this

Local Extension Ofc often has great info and offers

Its your chance to get a return on the taxes you pay!

We had a flood here two years ago and the only roots that remained were shumack. Amazing thick (5 to 6 inches) locked up the rocks and are still there. Everything else was washed out. Now this flood was caused by 6 inches of rain in three hours and some trees fell into the creek blocking it so that the water ran over a fame field ans washed out between my house a garage. Where I am is in the hilly part of Pa. Most hils(mountains to some) are 800 feet higher than the roads,,,,,,,jk

There is a difference between Rip-Rap and dumping rock over the edge. if done properly it is the best option and also the most expensive. Reed canary grass will take over your wetland and spread down stream. I would rather have a little erosion than canary grass.

If you do decide to go with willow, just cut a few willow trees down, about 3 foot high. Take a pair of loppers and cut all the thumb size, or smaller sticks into 12 inch pieces. Stick the pieces into the ground, fat end down and they will root and grow.

Keith

Not much of a choice around here. At least the river muskrats eat it.

Mike Kelly has given some professional advice at quite a discount.

I agree 100% with him. Identifying the root cause of the problem will save you lots of money in the long run as erosion at one spot is often times caused by upstream or in some cases even downstream disturbances in the watershed.

There are a number of programs available that can help you with this and possibly provide some financial assistance with no strings. NRCS is a good place to start and if the property is a working farm, you may be able to qualify for some Working Lands for Wildlife grants which are specifically designated for these kinds of projects. If this doesn't meet their mission, they can certainly suggest some other contacts as any stream bank restoration work seems to be a hot topic right now in conservation.

Riprap if you can and search materials that is used for such a purpose. We have some land that is very erodible along river banks. The best thing we can do s hope for dry years so cottonwood and willows have a chance to take off. The problem is we have so much high water they drown before they can get very tall.

So this Is something to think about.
The DNR forestry department has been killing off the willow growth along several trout streams here In Southern WI on several public hunting and fishing areas. They are saying the dense willow growth along the stream banks Is actually removing oxygen from the water In those areas.

Willow's will sprout and take root from cuttings. Cut a willow up into 2' pieces and bury 1/2 of it in the wet ground/sand. Helps if the piece has some leaves on it.

I would start at the U of W Stevens Point extension.
see if they have a program like the one listed below?https://extension.psu.edu/programs/watershed-stewards

Lots of luck!!

pick65

I cannot think of a more natural process than stream bank erosion. You can try to manage it with plantings, but the current will always win in the long run, especially during high water events.

willow...willow...willow. Find any species of shrubby willow growing anywhere along the banks or in a wet spot. During the fall when the plant starts going dormant (losing leaves) cut the stem into 2 foot sections. Anything bigger diameter than a pencil will do. Stick the stems into the eroding bank HORIZONTALLY. The stems will begin rooting this fall and then have a good kickstart in the spring. Our success rate for these cuttings is about 90% after 2 years when we do it when the plant is dormant. If you cut a live plant during the summer, survival is about 30% after 2 years. Plant the stems about a foot apart. PM me if you need more help, I do about 100,000 of these every year

AJE, some questions for you regarding your streambank site ;

Orientation.....is the erosion on a curve or turn ? If not, is it somewhat straight where the problem is ?

How high is the bank ? Please describe what's behind the bank itself. What does the bank on the opposite side look like ?

Any snags or other obstructions above or within the site ?

Hundreds of site visits to eroding stream banks have convinced me that although rip rap is an effective short term fix, it's bad for the stream in the long run. Causes problems upstream and downstream and actually destabilizes streams when in excess - causes downcutting, lost access to floodplain and increased erosion in other areas. If the stream has been destabilized in other reaches from past disturbances (rip rap, dredging, channelizing, etc), you'll be fighting an uphill battle on your eroding site.

Rip rap may be needed if erosion is threatening structures or roads, but otherwise I'd avoid it. Like others mentioned, willows work great. Alders grow well in sandy areas here too. A multispecies mix of streamside shrub and tree species should improve chances of establishment. And if you've got livestock, of course the area will have to be fenced and only grazed periodically when established.

Stable, unimpacted streams move and erode banks naturally, but at very low rates, in the neighborhood of inches a year. If you can get good vegetation established the root systems will help minimize erosion while allowing some to occur at a low level and help the stream work toward a more stable equillibrium. Great advice from other posters as well.

AJE......got a pic of your site in question ?

I don't have a pic. It's not just 1 small specific spot.
It's a sand bottom stream. We've done some rip rap projects, and it's helped, but rip rap gets pricey (it does last though).
I've had some luck with christmas trees. I 'plug' an eroded area with an old xmas tree, then it catches the moving sand and in a year or so ya can hardly see the tree. I learned the xmas tree trick on a volunteer project I helped the Isaac Walton League with.
Some of the exposed sand is flat and some is steep bank.

We used Lespedieza, got it from Quail Unlimited

We were told to cut down any trees along the bank, so planting new ones wont be much help.......jk

I hadn't heard of that 1, will have to google it.

jk, why'd they tell you to cut down trees? Curious.

Lespedeza is an old fashioned grass used to make hay with. Years ago they used it in Virginia before alfalfa became popular.

Ernst seeds from Meadville,PA. has seed mixes specifically for riparian sites. Not sure how they compare cost-wise with other sources. They have a nice full color catalog to gaze at.

When they say lespedeza, they don't mean Sericea lespedeza, Sericea is a noxious weed often planted by stupidly ignorant highway departments and has no redeeming characteristics. But it will be the first thing you find on a search.

Lespedeza is a family of legumes, many species of lespedeza are native to the USA and some do grow tall enough for hay. Although I recall Grandpa talking about "Korean lespedeza" as what he used for hay and it was an anual rather than perenial. It did well on a dry sandy field but as an anual probably doesn't root deeply.
Slender lespedeza (Lespedeza virginica) is probably native in some parts of Wi., I've never seen it in dense stands, but quail love it.
Bicolor lespedeza (Lespedeza bicolor) is an Asian import that has been widely planted by wildlife people and as erosin control, I'm not sure I like nonnative plants.
In nonnative plants, crown vetch has very deep roots and in my pasture does well on sand/gravel.

One more time, get with your local USDA and forestry people that have experiance with your exact area, soil type and problem.

Also look up Missouri department of conservation tree sales. Order in September, set your date when you want to receive them. Nice selection of wildlife plantings (trees & shrubs). Surprised nobody said anything about sycamore's, not sure if they grow that far north. I've planted reed canary grass, even fed it to cattle. There not to crazy about it, and neither am I. I planted it on a dike, grows fast but I don't believe there a whole lot of wildlife benefits to it. I would think if it's around your location it would already be growing there!

Reed canary grass is a terrible invasive in Wi.
https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/invasives/fact/reedcanarygrass.html

Yes it is. It's so predominant along river banks one would think it's native. I remember back in the 60s wrapping duck blinds with it and using it under sleeping bags to make a mattress when we camped on the islands as kids.

Run, glad you posted. Learning a lot from the site. Will try and visit there next time I ride through Meadville. Meadow and Pa. Black Cherry have my attention. Deer, rabbit, and groundhog food lol.

Whatever you do don't plant Sericea Lespedeza it's an invasive weed that will take over every thing and crowd any native plants out. This is not the lespedeza that is used hay production. Some brains here thought it would make good ground cover and it took over and crowds native growth out.

i find owning both sides of the river to be nice.lose on 1 side-gain on the other.

AJE, they told us they don't want any more tree flowing down the creek blocking the birdges. My specific problem in the flood last year was that trees fell and blocked the creek and the water flowed over the banks onto a corn field eroding a trough in that down across my drive way between my house and the garage. The water was high enough to push in my cellar door. That wont happen again. We were told we had 30 days to do anything we wanted as they were to busy and we probably made the problem worse. Our section of the creek is now 4 times wider and in town there is no where for all that water to go. The shumack roots were the only thing left holding the rocks in place. This is a free stoone creek with a shdlf rock base and we are down to that base. Some place around here floods evry 5 to 10 years.......Not good........jk