[Womble]

There's a wee burn that runs alongside our smallholding. Usually it's only a trickle, but sometimes water escapes from an adjacent Scottish Water culvert, and things get quite a bit more interesting!

Last year, the burn flooded quite badly and under-cut our field and fence-line. So, during the summer, we installed some gabiens to hopefully stop it from getting any worse. It's a good job we did. Here's what it looked like this morning:



And again this afternoon!:



We had originally covered the stones with soil in the hope that grass would grow through and hold everything together. Unfortunately this, and most of the small stones has been washed out. However, we can re-do it in the spring. Any ideas on something we can plant that will have the desired binding effect? I'm thinking nettles and couch grass!! 

[YorkshireLass]

Lots of work using willow along riverbanks to bind the soil, would that be any good?

[Backinwellies]

Rushes 

[Lesley Silvester]

Definitely more than a trickle at the moment.

[devonlady]

That's not a wee burn, that's a river!!

[Womble]

You should have seen the rivers yesterday then! 

[DartmoorLiz]

I found this on Amazon.  It might be just what you need and only £6.99.


 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegetation-Civil-Landscape-Engineering-BACHE/dp/0246115076

[Ghdp]

Thank you Dartmoor Liz! I have just seen this thread and your suggestion is timely for an issue I am thinking through and will need to address.

[Womble]

Good stuff, Ghdp - could you let me know what the book says about planting on top of gabians please? 

Our farmer neighbour was greatly amused when we first built them. He leaned out of his tractor window, and in a fake Welsh accent asked; "so how does it feel to have the only gabians in the valley?" 

[Fleecewife]

Eeh - you could go white water rafting down that. 


Gabions look great - just in the right place.

[Ghdp]

Will certainly  let you know anyrhing helpful  about planting up the Gabians Womble.

[Womble]

The flow is looking a bit more normal today, and it looks as though they survived with just minor damage and settling of the stones. More importantly, we didn't lose our fence and half the field!

Hopefully if I top them up with a mixture of smaller rocks and soil, and then plant something with roots that will bind it all together, we should be all good  .

[Anke]

Willow!

[Womble]

I'm a bit worried that willow might get out of hand quite quickly (I really need something that's going to be low or preferably no maintenance). What looking after would willow need then?

[Terry T]

Alder would require less work, can cope with wet condions and establishes quickly.