[Dan Listermann]

We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank recently
underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are literally vertical at
the top. Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. We will be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. I understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. We could let it start and just
trim anything that got in our way. The bank faces the south and gets a lot
of light. The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?

[Bill[_13_]]

In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank recently
underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are literally vertical at
the top. Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. We will be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. I understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. We could let it start and just
trim anything that got in our way. The bank faces the south and gets a lot
of light. The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?

I have bamboo growing about and would think it not the way to go.

Look at http://erosion-prevention.com/vetiver.html and check with
your county agent about introducing vetiver grass.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

[Phisherman[_3_]]

On Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:11:33 -0500, "Dan Listermann"
wrote:

We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank recently
underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are literally vertical at
the top. Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. We will be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. I understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. We could let it start and just
trim anything that got in our way. The bank faces the south and gets a lot
of light. The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?


Bamboo can be invasive, dwarf varieties and variegated types less so.
It can be very effective in erosion control. Keep in mind that you
may have bamboo control issues in the future. I've seen it growing
under asphalt, and it has broken water pipes, etc.

If the river bank is sunny, grass might work well. You may need to
cover it with a net with some mulch, compost, or straw to help keep it
from washing away until it gets started.

[Dan Listermann]

Reading the article, temperature could be a problem.

"Bill" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank recently
underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are literally vertical
at
the top. Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was
thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. We will be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. I understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. We could let it start and
just
trim anything that got in our way. The bank faces the south and gets a
lot
of light. The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?

I have bamboo growing about and would think it not the way to go.

Look at http://erosion-prevention.com/vetiver.html and check with
your county agent about introducing vetiver grass.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

[Bill[_13_]]

In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

Reading the article, temperature could be a problem.

"Bill" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank recently
underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are literally vertical
at
the top. Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was
thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. We will be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. I understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. We could let it start and
just
trim anything that got in our way. The bank faces the south and gets a
lot
of light. The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?

I have bamboo growing about and would think it not the way to go.

Look at http://erosion-prevention.com/vetiver.html and check with
your county agent about introducing vetiver grass.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA






Looks tough to me but your temps are unknown to me.

Frop the URL

"Vetiver maintains tolerance to extreme climatic variation
such as prolonged drought, flood, submergence and
extreme temperature from -14C to +55C (7 to 131F)
exceeds most grass, iceplant,red apple, bamboo and many
tree varieties."

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

[Doug Houseman]

In article ,
Phisherman wrote:

On Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:11:33 -0500, "Dan Listermann"
wrote:

We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank recently
underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are literally vertical at
the top. Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. We will be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. I understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. We could let it start and just
trim anything that got in our way. The bank faces the south and gets a lot
of light. The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?


Bamboo can be invasive, dwarf varieties and variegated types less so.
It can be very effective in erosion control. Keep in mind that you
may have bamboo control issues in the future. I've seen it growing
under asphalt, and it has broken water pipes, etc.

If the river bank is sunny, grass might work well. You may need to
cover it with a net with some mulch, compost, or straw to help keep it
from washing away until it gets started.

Better than Bamboo is Miscanthus, it is native to the great plains and
may have ranged into Indiana. It has deep and strong roots (remember the
stories about sodbusters - it was Miscanthus they were busting). It is
not subject to most weather issues in the midwest.

It is the grass that is being looked at for biomass and biofuels because
of its ability to grow and spread quickly.

That having been said - it does grow and spread quickly and it has deep
roots. If you ever intend to grow something else there - don't plant it.
Keep it well mowed in areas you do not want it to spread in and remember
the roots can run 2 or 3 feet without popping up and then suddenly - you
have it.

in small form it looks like grass - allowed to grow to full height -
some varieties can top 8 feet in a summer. Deer and other wildlife find
it an acceptable food, especially in the spring, because it starts
greening up faster than most grass.

OBTW - the popular name is switch grass. Most nurseries carry at least
one variety.

[brooklyn1]

"Bill" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

Reading the article, temperature could be a problem.

"Bill" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank
recently
underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are literally
vertical
at
the top. Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was
thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. We will
be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. I
understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. We could let it start and
just
trim anything that got in our way. The bank faces the south and gets
a
lot
of light. The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?

I have bamboo growing about and would think it not the way to go.

Look at http://erosion-prevention.com/vetiver.html and check with
your county agent about introducing vetiver grass.

That's not about erosion control for waterways that's for dry banks. Once
river/stream banks give way due to excessive water it's too late to plant
anything but rock. I had a similar situation, too much water in my stream
after the ground thawed in spring and I lost much of the banks, in fact huge
chunks washed away. My first thought was plantings (actualkly my first
thought was PaNiC), I considered reeds as I have lots of cattail at my pond.
But reeds don't anchor into vertical ground and won't hold with rushing
water. After much research my only solution was to have the stream totally
reconfigured, dug deeper and wider so it would hold greater volume, and the
surface made with a smooth contour to keep water turbulence to a minimum.
Then the entire stream was lined with a special heavy duty matrix material,
and then ripraped (riprap means lined with stone so as to break up and
equalize the pressure of rushing water). The first attempt failed as the
stones used were too small (many washed away) and since it was done in the
fall there wasn't enough time for plants to take hold between the stones
that would marry it all together. The excavating company came back in early
summer when water flow was very low with larger stones (they can't do this
with rushing water). So far it has held well through last fall's heavy
rains and this winter, the real test will be this spring.

I had to have it repaired before it became worse, erosion does not heal
itself.... and micky mousing around with silly schemes trying to save a few
dollars would have been foolhardy... another heavy rain and the repair would
have cost ten times as much, I know I did the right thing. And I had no
choice as the erosion was mostly at the turn where the pipe from my french
drain entered the stream, the erosion was working towards my house too.

Some of the erosion:
http://i40.tinypic.com/2i75zs7.jpg

Stone being installed:
http://i44.tinypic.com/2yybdht.jpg

French drain rerouted:
http://i42.tinypic.com/wqvk47.jpg

They did a nice job:
http://i39.tinypic.com/xonrcw.jpg

At times water used to rise to the top and even overflowed, now the stream
can contain greater volume:
http://i39.tinypic.com/23j1mxh.jpg

The excavating company did a neat job, they made minimal mess and the next
day hauled in a load of top soil, reseeded, and rolled everything smooth.
Over the summer the grass grew back and a lot of plants started filling the
stream. This spring after the rains I intend to replant the banks as I lost
most everything with the erosion, shouldn't take long to look good again. I
was surprised that they charged only $1,800. I would strongly urge the OP
not fool around with planting bamboo, it won't work and will waste a lot of
valuable time while more erosion is bound to occur. And there is no way
anyone can do this by hand, hire an excavating company and be certain they
come with good credentials... I swear that operater could do brain surgery
with that machine. This is the third big job they did for me, always a
great job at a fair price... and they stand behind their work, not many
would return and do it over. And this was a very small fill in job for
them, they mostly do big commercial jobs, that was their smallest excavator.

[David Hare-Scott[_2_]]

Dan Listermann wrote:
We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank
recently underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are
literally vertical at the top. Obviously it is too late to do much
about this, but I was thinking that bamboo might work well to try to
mitigate more erosion. We will be fishing off the bank so the bamboo
should not be too tall. I understand that when you cut bamboo, it
stops growing. We could let it start and just trim anything that got
in our way. The bank faces the south and gets a lot of light. The
soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?

It's declared a noxious weed in many places - for good reason.

David

[Dan Listermann]

Good info, but we are talking about a 200 foot wide river and a bank more
than 10 feet tall.

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...

"Bill" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

Reading the article, temperature could be a problem.

"Bill" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank
recently
underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are literally
vertical
at
the top. Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was
thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. We will
be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. I
understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. We could let it start
and
just
trim anything that got in our way. The bank faces the south and gets
a
lot
of light. The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?

I have bamboo growing about and would think it not the way to go.

Look at http://erosion-prevention.com/vetiver.html and check with
your county agent about introducing vetiver grass.

That's not about erosion control for waterways that's for dry banks. Once
river/stream banks give way due to excessive water it's too late to plant
anything but rock. I had a similar situation, too much water in my stream
after the ground thawed in spring and I lost much of the banks, in fact
huge chunks washed away. My first thought was plantings (actualkly my
first thought was PaNiC), I considered reeds as I have lots of cattail at
my pond. But reeds don't anchor into vertical ground and won't hold with
rushing water. After much research my only solution was to have the
stream totally reconfigured, dug deeper and wider so it would hold greater
volume, and the surface made with a smooth contour to keep water
turbulence to a minimum. Then the entire stream was lined with a special
heavy duty matrix material, and then ripraped (riprap means lined with
stone so as to break up and equalize the pressure of rushing water). The
first attempt failed as the stones used were too small (many washed away)
and since it was done in the fall there wasn't enough time for plants to
take hold between the stones that would marry it all together. The
excavating company came back in early summer when water flow was very low
with larger stones (they can't do this with rushing water). So far it has
held well through last fall's heavy rains and this winter, the real test
will be this spring.

I had to have it repaired before it became worse, erosion does not heal
itself.... and micky mousing around with silly schemes trying to save a
few dollars would have been foolhardy... another heavy rain and the repair
would have cost ten times as much, I know I did the right thing. And I
had no choice as the erosion was mostly at the turn where the pipe from my
french drain entered the stream, the erosion was working towards my house
too.

Some of the erosion:
http://i40.tinypic.com/2i75zs7.jpg

Stone being installed:
http://i44.tinypic.com/2yybdht.jpg

French drain rerouted:
http://i42.tinypic.com/wqvk47.jpg

They did a nice job:
http://i39.tinypic.com/xonrcw.jpg

At times water used to rise to the top and even overflowed, now the stream
can contain greater volume:
http://i39.tinypic.com/23j1mxh.jpg

The excavating company did a neat job, they made minimal mess and the next
day hauled in a load of top soil, reseeded, and rolled everything smooth.
Over the summer the grass grew back and a lot of plants started filling
the stream. This spring after the rains I intend to replant the banks as
I lost most everything with the erosion, shouldn't take long to look good
again. I was surprised that they charged only $1,800. I would strongly
urge the OP not fool around with planting bamboo, it won't work and will
waste a lot of valuable time while more erosion is bound to occur. And
there is no way anyone can do this by hand, hire an excavating company and
be certain they come with good credentials... I swear that operater could
do brain surgery with that machine. This is the third big job they did
for me, always a great job at a fair price... and they stand behind their
work, not many would return and do it over. And this was a very small
fill in job for them, they mostly do big commercial jobs, that was their
smallest excavator.

[brooklyn1]

You cannot repair that yourself, in fact under riparian law you'll probably
need permission to touch it, so don't go digging holes to put in plants.
Before doing anything I suggest you contact the appropriate government
agencies; begin by speaking with your town clerk about which agencies you
might contact... begin at the local level and work up from the town to
county to state to federal.

Didn't you notice that river when you purchased your property (how could you
not - all you saw was a pretty lazy river -changing weather conditions and
liability never occured to you), didn't you check into who is responsible
for maintaining the river banks, and whether you're in a flood plain.. you
should have received such info at closing under full disclosure law... you
may need to engage an attorney and sue the realtor/seller, if so do NOT
choose a local attorney. I have no idea what your property is about, like
elevation, acreage, and how much frontage is on that river, but it sure
sounds like you are probably in very deep doodoo. Speak to your neighbors
who also front that river, on a river that size you can't be the only one
with erosion. If this erosion is from an isolated major weather event there
may already be a government relief program underway, if so find out where to
get and submit the forms to put yourself on record as applying for help. I
suggest you move quickly. And start taking lots of photos (hopefully you
have photos of the area prior to the erosion), and keep a daily log of
weather conditions, take pictures every time it rains and/or there's high
water. The one thing you have going for you is with a river of that
magnetude you're not the only one who's affected by the erosion. I went
through all the above but found no help because the town was only
responsible for the 50 feet either side of the road center the stream passes
under via culvert, and I was the only one affected. So rather than waste
time and energy banging my head against the proverbial brick wall of
government I decided to pay for the repair myself... and I wasn't about to
wait for the damage to become worse.

You may find something helpful here, perhaps if you caontact them they can
give guidance: http://www.erosioncontrol.com/

Good luck.


"Dan Listermann" wrote in message
...
Good info, but we are talking about a 200 foot wide river and a bank more
than 10 feet tall.

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...

"Bill" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

Reading the article, temperature could be a problem.

"Bill" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Dan Listermann" wrote:

We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. The bank
recently
underwent a lot of erosion. Its eight foot walls are literally
vertical
at
the top. Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was
thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. We
will be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. I
understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. We could let it start
and
just
trim anything that got in our way. The bank faces the south and
gets a
lot
of light. The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?

I have bamboo growing about and would think it not the way to go.

Look at http://erosion-prevention.com/vetiver.html and check with
your county agent about introducing vetiver grass.

That's not about erosion control for waterways that's for dry banks.
Once river/stream banks give way due to excessive water it's too late to
plant anything but rock. I had a similar situation, too much water in my
stream after the ground thawed in spring and I lost much of the banks, in
fact huge chunks washed away. My first thought was plantings (actualkly
my first thought was PaNiC), I considered reeds as I have lots of cattail
at my pond. But reeds don't anchor into vertical ground and won't hold
with rushing water. After much research my only solution was to have the
stream totally reconfigured, dug deeper and wider so it would hold
greater volume, and the surface made with a smooth contour to keep water
turbulence to a minimum. Then the entire stream was lined with a special
heavy duty matrix material, and then ripraped (riprap means lined with
stone so as to break up and equalize the pressure of rushing water). The
first attempt failed as the stones used were too small (many washed away)
and since it was done in the fall there wasn't enough time for plants to
take hold between the stones that would marry it all together. The
excavating company came back in early summer when water flow was very low
with larger stones (they can't do this with rushing water). So far it
has held well through last fall's heavy rains and this winter, the real
test will be this spring.

I had to have it repaired before it became worse, erosion does not heal
itself.... and micky mousing around with silly schemes trying to save a
few dollars would have been foolhardy... another heavy rain and the
repair would have cost ten times as much, I know I did the right thing.
And I had no choice as the erosion was mostly at the turn where the pipe
from my french drain entered the stream, the erosion was working towards
my house too.

Some of the erosion:
http://i40.tinypic.com/2i75zs7.jpg

Stone being installed:
http://i44.tinypic.com/2yybdht.jpg

French drain rerouted:
http://i42.tinypic.com/wqvk47.jpg

They did a nice job:
http://i39.tinypic.com/xonrcw.jpg

At times water used to rise to the top and even overflowed, now the
stream can contain greater volume:
http://i39.tinypic.com/23j1mxh.jpg

The excavating company did a neat job, they made minimal mess and the
next day hauled in a load of top soil, reseeded, and rolled everything
smooth. Over the summer the grass grew back and a lot of plants started
filling the stream. This spring after the rains I intend to replant the
banks as I lost most everything with the erosion, shouldn't take long to
look good again. I was surprised that they charged only $1,800. I would
strongly urge the OP not fool around with planting bamboo, it won't work
and will waste a lot of valuable time while more erosion is bound to
occur. And there is no way anyone can do this by hand, hire an
excavating company and be certain they come with good credentials... I
swear that operater could do brain surgery with that machine. This is
the third big job they did for me, always a great job at a fair price...
and they stand behind their work, not many would return and do it over.
And this was a very small fill in job for them, they mostly do big
commercial jobs, that was their smallest excavator.

[Dan Listermann]

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...
You cannot repair that yourself, in fact under riparian law you'll
probably need permission to touch it, so don't go digging holes to put in
plants. Before doing anything I suggest you contact the appropriate
government agencies; begin by speaking with your town clerk about which
agencies you might contact... begin at the local level and work up from
the town to county to state to federal.

Didn't you notice that river when you purchased your property (how could
you not - all you saw was a pretty lazy river -changing weather conditions
and liability never occured to you), didn't you check into who is
responsible for maintaining the river banks, and whether you're in a flood
plain.. you should have received such info at closing under full
disclosure law... you may need to engage an attorney and sue the
realtor/seller, if so do NOT choose a local attorney. I have no idea what
your property is about, like elevation, acreage, and how much frontage is
on that river, but it sure sounds like you are probably in very deep
doodoo. Speak to your neighbors who also front that river, on a river
that size you can't be the only one with erosion. If this erosion is from
an isolated major weather event there may already be a government relief
program underway, if so find out where to get and submit the forms to put
yourself on record as applying for help. I suggest you move quickly.
And start taking lots of photos (hopefully you have photos of the area
prior to the erosion), and keep a daily log of weather conditions, take
pictures every time it rains and/or there's high water. The one thing you
have going for you is with a river of that magnetude you're not the only
one who's affected by the erosion. I went through all the above but found
no help because the town was only responsible for the 50 feet either side
of the road center the stream passes under via culvert, and I was the only
one affected. So rather than waste time and energy banging my head
against the proverbial brick wall of government I decided to pay for the
repair myself... and I wasn't about to wait for the damage to become
worse.

You may find something helpful here, perhaps if you caontact them they can
give guidance: http://www.erosioncontrol.com/



The yard behind the the bank is quite long so there is no emergency. I was
fully aware of the issue. We could lose 100' before the septic system is a
problem. There is a shelter near the edge that I would rather not move,
but in some ways, moving it would be a lot cheaper and easier than screwing
with the bank.

[brooklyn1]

"Dan Listermann" wrote in message
...

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...
You cannot repair that yourself, in fact under riparian law you'll
probably need permission to touch it, so don't go digging holes to put in
plants. Before doing anything I suggest you contact the appropriate
government agencies; begin by speaking with your town clerk about which
agencies you might contact... begin at the local level and work up from
the town to county to state to federal.

Didn't you notice that river when you purchased your property (how could
you not - all you saw was a pretty lazy river -changing weather
conditions and liability never occured to you), didn't you check into who
is responsible for maintaining the river banks, and whether you're in a
flood plain.. you should have received such info at closing under full
disclosure law... you may need to engage an attorney and sue the
realtor/seller, if so do NOT choose a local attorney. I have no idea
what your property is about, like elevation, acreage, and how much
frontage is on that river, but it sure sounds like you are probably in
very deep doodoo. Speak to your neighbors who also front that river, on
a river that size you can't be the only one with erosion. If this
erosion is from an isolated major weather event there may already be a
government relief program underway, if so find out where to get and
submit the forms to put yourself on record as applying for help. I
suggest you move quickly. And start taking lots of photos (hopefully you
have photos of the area prior to the erosion), and keep a daily log of
weather conditions, take pictures every time it rains and/or there's high
water. The one thing you have going for you is with a river of that
magnetude you're not the only one who's affected by the erosion. I went
through all the above but found no help because the town was only
responsible for the 50 feet either side of the road center the stream
passes under via culvert, and I was the only one affected. So rather
than waste time and energy banging my head against the proverbial brick
wall of government I decided to pay for the repair myself... and I wasn't
about to wait for the damage to become worse.

You may find something helpful here, perhaps if you caontact them they
can give guidance: http://www.erosioncontrol.com/



The yard behind the the bank is quite long so there is no emergency. I
was fully aware of the issue. We could lose 100' before the septic system
is a problem. There is a shelter near the edge that I would rather not
move, but in some ways, moving it would be a lot cheaper and easier than
screwing with the bank.

You seem not to need any advice, seems you knew all the answers before you
posted. I was becoming concerned for you, thank you for clearing that up.

[Dan Listermann]

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...

"Dan Listermann" wrote in message
...

"brooklyn1" wrote in message
...
You cannot repair that yourself, in fact under riparian law you'll
probably need permission to touch it, so don't go digging holes to put
in plants. Before doing anything I suggest you contact the appropriate
government agencies; begin by speaking with your town clerk about which
agencies you might contact... begin at the local level and work up from
the town to county to state to federal.

Didn't you notice that river when you purchased your property (how could
you not - all you saw was a pretty lazy river -changing weather
conditions and liability never occured to you), didn't you check into
who is responsible for maintaining the river banks, and whether you're
in a flood plain.. you should have received such info at closing under
full disclosure law... you may need to engage an attorney and sue the
realtor/seller, if so do NOT choose a local attorney. I have no idea
what your property is about, like elevation, acreage, and how much
frontage is on that river, but it sure sounds like you are probably in
very deep doodoo. Speak to your neighbors who also front that river, on
a river that size you can't be the only one with erosion. If this
erosion is from an isolated major weather event there may already be a
government relief program underway, if so find out where to get and
submit the forms to put yourself on record as applying for help. I
suggest you move quickly. And start taking lots of photos (hopefully you
have photos of the area prior to the erosion), and keep a daily log of
weather conditions, take pictures every time it rains and/or there's
high water. The one thing you have going for you is with a river of
that magnetude you're not the only one who's affected by the erosion. I
went through all the above but found no help because the town was only
responsible for the 50 feet either side of the road center the stream
passes under via culvert, and I was the only one affected. So rather
than waste time and energy banging my head against the proverbial brick
wall of government I decided to pay for the repair myself... and I
wasn't about to wait for the damage to become worse.

You may find something helpful here, perhaps if you caontact them they
can give guidance: http://www.erosioncontrol.com/



The yard behind the the bank is quite long so there is no emergency. I
was fully aware of the issue. We could lose 100' before the septic
system is a problem. There is a shelter near the edge that I would
rather not move, but in some ways, moving it would be a lot cheaper and
easier than screwing with the bank.

You seem not to need any advice, seems you knew all the answers before you
posted. I was becoming concerned for you, thank you for clearing that up.


Sorry, I did not mean to give you that sort of impression. You seemed to
have some strong concerns that were not really high on my list.

[[email protected]]

On Feb 19, 12:11*pm, "Dan Listermann" wrote:
We bought a camp on a small river in eastern Indiana. *The bank recently
underwent a lot of erosion. *Its eight foot walls are literally vertical at
the top. *Obviously it is too late to do much about this, but I was thinking
that bamboo might work well to try to mitigate more erosion. *We will be
fishing off the bank so the bamboo should not be too tall. *I understand
that when you cut bamboo, it stops growing. *We could let it start and just
trim anything that got in our way. *The bank faces the south and gets a lot
of light. *The soil is very sandy and appears rich.

Any thoughts?

canebrake was probably native there, worth looking into

[mleblanca]

On Feb 19, 12:24 pm, Doug Houseman wrote:
In article ,



Better than Bamboo is Miscanthus, it is native to the great plains and
may have ranged into Indiana. It has deep and strong roots (remember the
stories about sodbusters - it was Miscanthus they were busting). It is
not subject to most weather issues in the midwest.

It is the grass that is being looked at for biomass and biofuels because
of its ability to grow and spread quickly.

That having been said - it does grow and spread quickly and it has deep
roots. If you ever intend to grow something else there - don't plant it.
Keep it well mowed in areas you do not want it to spread in and remember
the roots can run 2 or 3 feet without popping up and then suddenly - you
have it.

in small form it looks like grass - allowed to grow to full height -
some varieties can top 8 feet in a summer. Deer and other wildlife find
it an acceptable food, especially in the spring, because it starts
greening up faster than most grass.

OBTW - the popular name is switch grass. Most nurseries carry at least
one variety.

Just to clarify this:
Miscanthus is a genus of grasses native to subtropical and tropical
regions of Africa and Southern Asia. It is not native to any region of
the US.
Switch grass is in the genus Panicum. It is not a Miscanthus.
Emilie