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