"Holly, in France" wrote in message
...

....anything at all that will out-compete brambles and nettles?!
I have battled with a bank next to a stream for four years, trying
to dig them out and keep them cut.

Bearing in mind something I was reading the other day. You're
quite certain are you that all these various - unwelcome
though they may be - roots aren't contributing to the structural
integrity of the bank ? That they're not the only things that are
preventing the bank from crumbling away into the stream ?

Now there are mice near a waterfall (which I
don't want to poison - cat and barn owls), coypu coming and going, the
dog has joined in the digging trying to get at the mice and the whole
thing is becoming more and more of a mess! I've just cleaned it all up
again as well as I can. Trying to keep membrane/polythene in place would
be a nightmare, the bank is steep and the dog and various wildlife will
root it up. So...either I plant some very aggressive ground-cover or I
think I'm going to have to resort to Roundup for as long as necessary.
Any ideas please anyone?
East facing bank, mostly sunny, never dries out,

floods half way up a couple of times a year.

I'm not an expert, but possibly see above? Would more of the bank be being
washed away with each successive flood, without these roots there to provide
solidity ?


michael adams

....


TIA

--
Holly, in France
Gite to let in Dordogne, now with pool.
http://la-plaine.chez-alice.fr