Seed mix for stabilising ditch bank.

[Simon T]

Hi there

Just dropping out of lurk mode to post a question. This follows on from a post I made last year about my garden subsiding into the ditch that runs across the back of my property.

Thanks to the advice of the people here I've managed to shore up the the wall of the ditch, but somebody advised me to scatter the following seed mix over it to stabilise the soil...

However, is this really suitable for a drainage ditch? This stuff appears to be designed with drought tolerance in mind. Well, top of the ditch might be dry, but the bottom is always going to be wet. Plus, this stuff only comes in 20kg bags and I need less than a kilo (area is approx 6m long x 2.25 wide) and at around £100 a bag, isn't exactly cheap.

Any suggestions on how to get hold of a small quantity of a suitable seed mix? Obviously, I don't want to pay through the nose for way more than what I need, particularly as it might not be 100% suitable for its intended purpose. I've done a bit of Googling but am a bit out of my field here.

Thanks in advance!

[Andrew Mawson]

Push some willow whips into the bank. They'll root quickly and hold things together

Andrew

[Sam Plusnet]

I wonder what would happen if you cut (say) 10 foot lengths of willow & shove both ends into the earth?

There's a fair chance that both ends would root.

[Andrew Mawson]

The trendy gardener types do that all the time - they make 'living arches' and other strange concoctions.

I had a pile of willow logs that had been culled from a local stream bank - when they came to me they'd been felled for a year. I left them for another

18 months before sorting them out, and a significant proportion of those 'dead logs' had sprouted and grown roots and buds !

Andrew

Andrew

[Davey]

No idea how good it is, but I was researching this exact same thing, and came across this:

They offer a seed mix for stabilising banks:

Mixture is: *_River Bank Mix_*

[Simon T]

Thanks for that, couldn't seem to find the seed mix you referred to on that site though.

Was that the right link?

[Nightjar]

Nor could I, but it is a fascinating site.

Colin Bignell

[Martin Brown]

What direction does the bank face?

Not sure that seed mix is really what you want. You need something that will make a strong tangle of mostly shallow roots with a few deep ones. Cross posted to u.r.gardening since you will get a wider audience of knowledgable folk there who will make other suggestions.

Lupins, nettle, buddleia and willow spring to mind as things that will probably tolerate those conditions and maybe one of the moderately invasive short bamboos. You should be able to get seed or cuttings of the first four for next to nothing.

Be careful what you wish for though some of the faster growing bank stabilising plants can be thuggish brutes if they like your conditions.

Don't plant himalayan balsam under any circumstances and grub it up if it arrives spontaneously!

[Nick Maclaren]

Plus how much sun it gets, the soil type and most of all where in the UK you are.

Yes.

Buddleia? Its preferred conditions are more like scree, though it is pretty adaptable. But one key question is how much winter rain. If a lot, then the cover needs to be evergreen or with surface roots, to discourage run-off. Periwinkle might not like the bottom, but would certainly do the job, especially in combination with Cornus and Salix (willow, sallow etc.)

Plants that form almost impenetrable tangles, but are deciduous, include mint and lily of the valley. A shrub that should do well is Cornus alba/siberica, and it can be cut down hard if needed (and looks best when stems are cut out at the end of their second year).

As are several I have mentioned :-)

Regards, Nick Maclaren.

[Davey]

Sorry for confusion. The banking mix is not shown on the website, but when I asked them via e-mail, the mix I quoted is what they replied with. Unfortunately, as it's not on the website, they charge for delivery, but if it's the right solution, no big deal. I haven't ordered it yet, but I will soon.

[Peter Crosland]

Unless it is closer than 25 metres from any buildings.

[Simon T]

OK, I'll try and answer your questions as best as possible.

Bank faces approximately west, I live in Lincolnshire, not sure of the soil type. Its topsoil, but that's all I know. My friend was digging out his borders ready for gravelling, so I came along with my wheelbarrow and pilfered it. Not sure exactly how much sun it gets, parts are shaded by a couple of nearby trees, but can't tell you much more.

I have slight difficulty getting access to the bank to plant stuff as there's a 3ft fence I have to scale first, plus as a lot of the soil I've shovelled down there is still settling I'm wary about trampling all over it to plant stuff, hence why I was seeing if there was a seed mix I could simply scatter over the fence that would bind things together as it grew.

I will warn you I have a completely green thumb when it comes to gardening, I have no idea what most of these plants are you refer to so am a bit out of my depth here when it comes to selecting, planting, sowing plants/seeds etc.

[Martin Brown]

But will grow in our heavy waterlogged clay right through to sun baked brick wall - the only thing that varies is how much it flowers.

I like the idea of cornus and periwinkle the stems are striking and again it is easy growing almost indestructible. The OP should probably look for these sorts of things at local plants for sale events raising funds for church/school/playgroup. They tend to have things that seed profusely, grow vigorously and reliably at very modest prices.

In the same vein wild garlic if you don't mind the pong.

Indeed. Given he says it is inaccessible and outside his garden I would probably go for nettles, lupins and a few shrubby things. ISTR they use species lupins in Iceland to stabilise wind blow volcanic dust.

And again you should be able to get plenty of cheap unnamed seed from anyone who has one in their garden. Poppies and aquilegia might also be able to fight their way into a wild flower mix on a bank.

(I certainly wouldn't be spending money on expensive seed mixtures)

[Davey]

Surely a 'green thumb' implies that you are very successful in the garden, whereas I think you mean you are green, as in 'inexperienced'?

[Simon T]

It was my understanding that "Green fingers" meant good at gardening. By having a green thumb, I meant I'm a bit ham-fisted/inept at it.

[John Williamson]

Ah, so you have a brown thumb, then.

[Davey]

Maybe the 'green thumb' term is more used in Canada and the US, where I lived for 30-odd years.

['Mike']

OK, I'll try and answer your questions as best as possible.

Bank faces approximately west, I live in Lincolnshire, not sure of the soil type. Its topsoil, but that's all I know. My friend was digging out his borders ready for gravelling, so I came along with my wheelbarrow and pilfered it. Not sure exactly how much sun it gets, parts are shaded by a couple of nearby trees, but can't tell you much more.

I have slight difficulty getting access to the bank to plant stuff as there's a 3ft fence I have to scale first, plus as a lot of the soil I've shovelled down there is still settling I'm wary about trampling all over it to plant stuff, hence why I was seeing if there was a seed mix I could simply scatter over the fence that would bind things together as it grew.

I will warn you I have a completely green thumb when it comes to gardening, I have no idea what most of these plants are you refer to so am a bit out of my depth here when it comes to selecting, planting, sowing plants/seeds etc.

[Simon T]

That's probably the phrase I was looking for...

[rbel]

If grass is needed I would look for a seed mix with 30 to 50% amenity ryegrass and 30% creeping fescue and would add a wetlands wildflower seed mix to provide some interest. If it was my project I would just use a wet wildflower seed mix.

Bostons have a sound range of grass seeds and a wetlands/pond edge wildflower mix which may suit.