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.