What plants to keep soil from washing away?

We had a pond with rather steep sides dig out. Missus asks what to plant on the sides to prevent the soil washing away in the rainy season (she takes care of gardening and landscaping; albeit landscaping is limited to design as the realisation will be passed to me). Locals don't know because they don't realy care about the washing away from a little bit of soil, but as we kept a little island in the pond (about 20 meters) which is likely to diminish in course of time, we sure like to prevent the shores from breaking down.


Any suggestions on what to plant in the shores of this 'KO' ?

(sorry, but pictures not allowed?:kma: )

vetiver

https://teakdoor.com/attachment.php?...id=44427&stc=1

You’ll have to wait for someone else to come along to tell you the Thai name of this grass.

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Originally Posted by IsanBanHao

What plants to keep soil from washing away?

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And the winner is 'misskit'

https://www.ldd.go.th/ldd_en/en-US/v...-conservation/

Where to obtain is in the last paragraph in the article.

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Originally Posted by misskit

vetiver

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PRVN :: Pacific Rim Vetiver Network

Grass .... the evil kind you have to mow, not the good kind that you smo.....err don't have to mow.

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Originally Posted by CSFFan

not the good kind that you smo.....

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Careful Duterte 'The Mad' is watching

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Originally Posted by Pragmatic

And the winner is 'misskit'

https://www.ldd.go.th/ldd_en/en-US/v...-conservation/

Where to obtain is in the last paragraph in the article.

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Yeah. That would work quite adequate if one looking to retain from seasonal soil erosion.
There's a hitch - spreads extremely quick.

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Originally Posted by HuangLao

There's a hitch - spreads extremely quick.

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The good thing about it is that it can be ploughed in and then it decomposes adding nutrients to the soil.

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Originally Posted by HuangLao

Yeah. That would work quite adequate if one looking to retain from seasonal soil erosion.
There's a hitch - spreads extremely quick.

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Thanks for thinking with me. That (spreading) should not be a problem as it's an island I am trying to preserve.

If you just want some shallow surface protection then the grass suggested would be fine.
However if you wanted something that gives a deeper more substantial stable bank then I would suggest using Eucalyptus trees they put down a long tap root that will give deeper protection. Just remember if you do use them the stumps are a prick to get out if ever you wanted to.

hmm, not sure about Euca stopping the erosion, I have many Euca around my ponds and never stopped the erosion.

I'd suggest raising the banks, and allow an entry point for the water to naturally enter the pond,possibly through a plastic pipe.

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Originally Posted by ootai

If you just want some shallow surface protection then the grass suggested would be fine.
However if you wanted something that gives a deeper more substantial stable bank then I would suggest using Eucalyptus trees they put down a long tap root that will give deeper protection. Just remember if you do use them the stumps are a prick to get out if ever you wanted to.

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Yet, there's a strong caveat regarding Eucalyptus: they tend to suck up all available moisture from the surrounding area, depriving and damaging local soils.
An introduced and invasive species.
Ever notice the areas around Eucalyptus? Void of any life...

A blessing, more than not, that Thai growers woke up to these traits - as you don't see tracks of Eucalyptus groves as you once did during the "alternative building timber" up to a decade [or more] ago.

Jeff look up alternatives there are many such as jet fuel and missile fuels have been developed.

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Originally Posted by HuangLao

Yet, there's a strong caveat regarding Eucalyptus: they tend to suck up all available moisture from the surrounding area, depriving and damaging local soils.
An introduced and invasive species.
Ever notice the areas around Eucalyptus? Void of any life...

A blessing, more than not, that Thai growers woke up to these traits - as you don't see tracks of Eucalyptus groves as you once did during the "alternative building timber" up to a decade [or more] ago.

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While I am not a big fan of Eucalyptus trees I think a lot of what you have said is simply not true.
I agree they lower the water table if there is enough of them as they put down a deep tap root system, this was developed to survive in Australia.
They don't damage the local soil as such. We have succesfully grown cassava on land that was previous full of Eucalyptus trees.
The reason very little grows around the Eucalyptus trees is because their leaves contain (surprisingly) eucalyptus oil which is detrimental to other plants so if you clear the leaves so they don't build up then things will grow.

As for not seeing the groves of trees that were once prevalent I believe it is because the land is being put to better use now.
I believe people who had Sor Kor Por land grew Eucalyptus because then they were "using" the land for farming so wouldn't lose it.
Eucalyptus trees are a set and forget crop and after cutting the timber the first time the stumps regenerate without any further inputs (money or labour) something that appeals to Thais. The trees are I believe mainly used for making paper i.e. Double AA.
I am not sure I have ever seen any building timber here that was cut from Eucalyptus trees.

Anyway each to their own, a person's perception IS their reality.

Eucalyptus growing was promoted by govt some 30 years ago, mainly for the paper industry. If in mono culture it's really not very friendly to other plants.

As of building timber, yes, you can find Euca round sticks dia. 5 - 10 cm in most of timber shops, not really as a building material but for an auxiliary structure during construction. Also for pallets and crates.

We found lemon grass was pretty good at stopping the soil galloping off but not on steep surfaces.

I planted 100 ''javac'' next to my water, according to many thai this helps a lot against erosion

Sounds like หญ้าแฝก(Yah Faek)

Locals don't like it because of the spreading.

Sounds like หญ้าแฝก(Yah Faek), same as 'vetiver' as Misskit posted. Makes the locals, especialy my neighbour, nervous becouse of the risk of spreading. What HuangLao allready warned for.