A tree with extensive root system?

[b101uk]

Hi people,

 

I am after a suitable tree species for planting near the top of a high near vertical river bank (~10ft above flood height) for the purpose of stabilising the ground, currently there are 2 dead/dieing 45ft Beach trees witch are sat on a previous slight landslip ~6ft from the top of the 25ft river bank witch will be removed once the TO has found out if the 1968 blanket TPO’s still applied to the stretch of land (bearing in mind all TPO, CA, SSSI, etc in the area were reviewed last year and this 1968 was not included in the review ) so I am after a spices of tree to plant behind the Beach tree stumps ~15ft from the bank (beyond prior slip) witch has an extensive root system for its size & is relatively fast growing but is NOT a Willow!

 

Any idea’s?

 

Currant trees in the vicinity = alder, ash, beach, holly, oak, sycamore.

[Charlieh]

hmmm i am working on a project to stop very rapid bank erosion, after much deliberation we are thinking about using mature willows to be replanted purely to stabilise the bank structure long enough to establish other trees behind the willows and give the soil some structure and stability,

 

the logical choise for you situation would be alder as it will throw down roots well and help stabilise the bank better than the other speices (please please please dont plant sycamores on a river bank)

 

 

what is the vegetation type on the bank? over grazed grassland by chance? if so replanting trees may not be the long term answer, also if the bank slips are being caused by erosion, you can use some of the felled timber to install in the river channel to help deflect flow and reduce power.

 

just out of interest what size of water course are we talking about? the methods the same but the costs/scale varies

 

 

Charlie

 

PS why is willow not and option?

[Amelanchier]

Go with alder.

[Log-ologist]

how about aspen and hope it will suckker up allover the site

[b101uk]

Hi Charlie, etc

 

The stretch of land is behind my house and in essence forms an extension of my garden, so my water feature is the river seven! So it’s a personal project rather than a customer.

 

The bank its self doesn’t suffer from erosion its just more the fact that the bank is near vertical and substantially higher than the up or down stream banks, the lower 6ft to 8ft is limestone and the ground above 8ft (~15ft) is a clay to soil strata like the up & down stream banks and is basically a throwback to when the river was much deeper/wider because the limestone outcrop at this point is highest so created a little natural plateau as waters fell over time, the section occupied by the 2 Beach trees has slipped sometime before 1985 but only dropped by ~4ft and has remind stable ever since in part to the 2 Beach, however they are now well past there function due to dieing and are in imminent danger of falling into the river, so I would rather fetch them down myself on to the top of the bank (obviously leving the stumps) as a result I need to plant 1 or 2 suitable replacement just past the potential slip point fracture (optimum angle of repose ~16ft from the bank face) so the tree stays on “solid” ground and the roots can grow into the potential slip area rather than place the trees on top of the potential slip area.

 

Trees that seam to grow well are oak, beach, sycamore, the trees that seam to die or have trouble are ash & ironically even though there are 3 40ft+ down there alder seams to have a problem with the standing timber rotting (only 1 is healthy & its furthest from the river! lol) perhaps because it is to well drained even though they are near the river.

 

The resion I don’t want willow is I don’t like it, it has a tendency to lean towards water, the crown is to wide, the last big willow down there fell over completely across the river and I have lost count of the other big willows that I have had of fetch out of rivers, lakes and streams due to them suddenly deciding to fall over!

 

The river is ~80ft wide

 

Thanks

Mark

[Charlieh]

i can appreciate not wanting willow now! i think alder would probably be best, it sounds like the alder could be suffering from this alder root disease but they should be ok (there is a train of thought that if you coppice/pollard them they will survive better), beech may be ok in this case as you dont need to stabilise the soil to a large extent and the shallower roots may help to hold the surface together and stop the bank slumping anymore.

[Jonny69]

Taxodium?

[Lee Winger]

i've never noticed willows suddenly falling over,saying that one site we cleared had lots of big willows on their side, somethng to remember for the future..

 

How about Horse chestnut , we soil decompacted a fine specimen, growing right next to a fast flowing river up the in the Peak District, his roots were completely submerged one side. The tree looked very happy in its enviroment.

[Pete Mctree]

With the prevalance of Horese chesnut bleeding canker and other associated deseases (secondary and usually fatal infection of pseudomona) they might not be the best of species to plant in the UK at the moment Lee

[Lee Winger]

very true