plants to arrest erosion

[brian mitchell]

Hi,

the woodland I have is on a steep slope with a stone track cut out of it more or less halfway up. The forward edge of this track is eroding in some places which, if not stopped, will eventually narrow the track too much to allow a vehicle to pass. As there are three parcels of woodland in a line, with the only turning area being at the end --*my* end-- the situation affects not only me. I'm wondering if there is any plant that can be planted along the forward edge to bind it together? My only thought at the moment is bramble. I have a 6' bank behind my house which has vigorous bramble growth on the top. Cutting into the bank to make a root cellar, I find that the bramble roots go down the full 6' and further, well into stony subsoil. I'm aware that controlling the bramble will be an added maintenance task, but so will widening the track into the slope above. Does anyone have any other suggestions or thoughts on the subject?

[tracy]

Hi Brian

I will send this question around to see if anyone can help. I suspect they will want to know:

Roughly where in the country are you? (local plants)

and what soil type you have.

What plants do you have growing wild? Brambles.... and ?

I hope someone can help. I wonder if a man made structure/ steppes/ pile of logs would help?

Best wishes

Tracy

[tracy]

Brian, here are some helpful comments from Julian Evans, author of Badgers, Blisters and Beeches. (available free here: http://www.woodlands.co.uk/blog/owning-a-wood/books/badgers-beeches-and-blisters/)

Erosion. The most important point is to divert any water away from the the site where erosion is occurring. This is normally by constructing a culvert beneath the track. Using vegetation to stop erosion is best seen as an adjunct to engineering not a sole solution. For example is it possible to construct a short piece of terrace to slow water movement and plant this up. The bramble idea is good, but remember that bramble is highly palatable to deer.

[brian mitchell]

Tracy, thank you for your input.

I'm in South West Wales. Soil type all around here, I think, is a kind of clay shale. I hope that makes sense. This being a steep slope the soil is fairly shallow. There isn't actually any bramble evident at the moment; I would be importing it. It's a mature conifer wood, so not a lot of light but I think bramble is shade-tolerant. Because of the density of the canopy, there is almost no ground flora; ferns seem to be the major species there. Deer are not a problem at the moment. There's no localised water scouring that might be cured with a culvert, though water is almost certainly the culprit. The slope *is* steep (I can't emphasise this enough!) so any man-made mechanical support would be quite a major undertaking. Plus the shape of the lot is long and narrow, so there's a lot of track to support. The erosion is not bad everywhere, so the bramble idea is as much a preventative as a cure.