Native Plants
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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
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Tuesday - December 08, 2009
From: Corneilius, NC
Region: Southeast
Topic: Erosion Control
Title: Need a ground cover to stop erosion on a slope next to a pond.
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
I have a large natural pond. One side has a steep slope. I need a attractive,low/no maintenance, evergreen? plant to stop the erosion into the pond. Cornelius/charlotte ncANSWER:
Generally, when Mr. Smarty Plants thinks about stopping erosion, he thinks about grasses. Grasses and/or sedges are very efficient in controlling erosion since their fibrous root systems hold the soil very well.
Here is a short list of sedges and grasses whose distribution includes North Carolina
Carex blanda (eastern woodland sedge)
Muhlenbergia schreberi (nimblewill)
Eragrostis spectabilis (purple lovegrass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)
Also, here are some woody perennials that could help your situation.
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
Gaultheria procumbens (eastern teaberry)
Leucothoe axillaris (coastal doghobble)
Pieris floribunda (mountain fetterbush) plus images
Vaccinium crassifolium (creeping blueberry plus images
Morella caroliniensis (southern bayberry) plus images
For help closer to home, you might contact the folks at NC Cooperative Extension in Mecklenburg County .
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June 22, 2010 - Erosion control and native grasses/plants for steep, shady slope in northeast Iowa.
We are building a house in northeast Iowa (near West Union in Fayette County). The road that was graded to the ho...
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Ground cover for a bank in PA
April 28, 2012 - I live in Landisburg, PA, (zone 6). I need to find some ground cover for a primarily full sun bank that is roughly 10-12' down over the embankment and up to 100' long. This area wraps around our po...
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Plant for Erosion Control on Wooded Slope in MD
May 19, 2015 - We are looking for a plant to help with erosion control on a wooded slope next to our drive. The roots of several of the trees are exposed like a shelf, so I think it's a fairly severe problem. We ar...
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