Native Plants
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Tuesday - June 23, 2009
From: Asheville, NC
Region: Southeast
Topic: Erosion Control
Title: Native grass and/or wildflower seed mix for erosion control in North Carolina
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I'm looking for a native grass and/or wildflower seed mix to control erosion on a new mountain road in a pine forest (red clay dirt). The soil is dry and partly shaded, depending on the hour of the day.ANSWER:
Grasses are ideal for controlling erosion because of their extensive fibrous root systems. To find suitable grasses you can do your own search in our Native Plant Database using the COMBINATION SEARCH option and choosing North Carolina from the map or pull-down menu, 'Grass/Grass-like' from Habit (general appearance), 'Part shade' from Light requirement and 'Dry' from Soil moisture. This will give you a list of more than 20 grasses that meet most of the criteria for your site. As you look at each of the pages for the grasses, you can find a description of the soil that these grasses require under the heading of Growing Conditions. Here are some suggestions from that list:Eragrostis intermedia (plains lovegrass)
Muhlenbergia emersleyi (bullgrass)
Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)
Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem)
Sorghastrum nutans (Indiangrass)
Tridens flavus (purpletop tridens)
You can add various wildflowers to the mix by doing a similar search to the one above substituting 'Herb' for 'Grass/Grass-like' or you can go to our Recommended Species page and choose North Carolina from the map or pull-down menu to get a list of more than 130 commercially available native plants for landscaping in the state (this particular list doesn't include grasses). You can then use the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option to select for General Appearance, Light Requirement and Soil Moisture. Here are a few sugggestions for wildflowers from that list:
Achillea millefolium (common yarrow)
Coreopsis lanceolata (lanceleaf tickseed)
Monarda citriodora (lemon beebalm)
Rudbeckia hirta (blackeyed Susan)
More Erosion Control Questions
Grasses for Erosion control in Iowa
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March 26, 2010 - I have a large steep slope in my back yard that the developer called a privacy break. It has poor soil and gets full sun. I have planted muhly and maiden grasses but would like some color. The slope ...
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Plants to prevent riverbank erosion in VA
March 05, 2011 - Looking for a plant to prevent erosion on a riverbank on the Rappahannock River in Virginia. Prefer something low, bank is a bit steep for regular mowing but could be mowed infrequently. Riverbank h...
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Plants to hold a slope in Northern New York
December 10, 2009 - I'm looking for native (South shore, Lake Ontario) plants to slow erosion on a steep, 20 foot bank. They don't have to be decorative (although flowering plants are always nice), but they should SPRE...
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