CONTROLLING EROSION

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

Giving a plant-by-plant list of several species of trees and bushes, this book tells where to plant them, when to plant them, and even how to plant them. It also has detailed diagrams of various erosion-control structures. It's too bad this valuable book is so limited in geographical area. You might check to see if your own Forest and Range Experiment Station has a similar publication.

The Stream Conservation Handbook , coed by Nathanial P. Reed. New York: Crown Publishers, 1974.

This book claims that "the primary objective of stream improvement is the restoration and enhancement of trout habitat." It was written for fishermen, many of whom are beginning to band together into groups like Trout Unlimited to maintain their streams. The big-stream scale of this book will probably make it not very handy for small landholders. But if you do happen to have a fishing creek, it will tell you what you have to know to keep it fishable.

Cutting and Using Willow Stakes

One of the first things the early settlers did when they claimed a piece of land was to put up a fence. To make the fence, they'd fell some relatively valueless tree, like a willow, perhaps, and cut it into posts. After driving the posts roughly into the ground with a maul, they'd set the log rails on top of the posts, and there would be a crisp, clean-looking fence for a couple of months at least.

Now if you've ever dealt much with fences, you know that the major problem is usually decay. But if the fence is made of willow posts, there is another very different sort of problem. After a few months the fence posts begin to sprout. Thick, turgid buds appear and spread up and down the posts. The buds burst into leaf, and soon the fence begins to grow — no longer a fence but a living, vigorous row of willow trees.

Many river trees, like willows, cottonwoods, and poplars, have this marvelous, persistent ability to sprout. It's an important part of their survival, I suspect. Many of these trees have long, whiplike or brittle branches that break off in winter and float downstream. The heavier end eventually settles somewhere in the wet mud and sends out roots, and a new tree begins growing.

This remarkable rooting ability, which proved so disconcerting to early fence builders, can be a great boon to us. A willow branch pounded into the ground will grow anywhere — yes, anywhere — as long as there is enough year-round moisture. Willows will root in the most barren and unstable of soils, which makes them the most valuable tree I know of for erosion control.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print