CONTROL Stream Erosion

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Near-vertical banks are among the toughest spots on which to establish vegetative cover. For this and other specialized problems, consult your local Soil Conservation Service office. The experts there may be able to recommend specific seed mixtures suitable to your site and to local conditions.

In general, there is no tree like the willow for holding a stream bank together. A wellestablished willow will break in half before it'll let go. And even a dead willow stump may provide effective erosion control for many years. Given these traits and the ease with which they can be planted, there's no reason not to' plant willows along large streams. However, on small streams, willows may offset the good they do on the bank with the damage they do in the water. Don't plant such trees along little brooks unless you're prepared to prune the branches periodically.

What applies to willows applies, in a lesser degree, to alders, also commonly found along streams. And, as we have seen, cottonwoods have their own disadvantages. Ashes, maples, walnuts, and sycamores are among the trees that prosper on streamside sites, resist uprooting, and don't grow into the water. You can work out your own treeplanting scheme by consulting with tree experts, or by walking or boating a forested stream in your area and noting the trees that behave as you would like.

In addition to planting trees along the stream, it's also a good idea to have a line of trees or shrubs directly behind the high point of the bank. During floods, they'll slow the receding waters, causing silt to drop out on the bank. This vegetation will keep silt from the stream, where it's a problem, and trap it where it'll enrich your agricultural land.

Someone once suggested that naturalstream management-of which erosion control is a major part-is to waterway engineering as orthodontics is to oral surgery. And both of the former work best if you push a little and wait a lot.

The satisfaction is not just in pushing for results, though they come eventually. It's also in waiting, watching, and encouraging Mother Earth's self-healing processes-and knowing that you can never learn it all.

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