LIVE STAKING: AN ECOLOGICAL LANDSCAPE SOLUTION
Live stakes are an excellent, affordable way to quickly establish vegetation for soil stabilization. Solutions include: preventing erosion, stabilizing a hillside, stream bank or swale where water creates gullies during heavy rains.
Types of plants that can be used for Live Stakes in the Southeast include:
Silky Dogwood, Cornus amomum
Elderberry, Sambucus spp
Sweetspire, Itea virginiana
Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occientalis
Arrowwood, Viburnum dentatum
Black willow, Salix nigra
Others
TIPS
Install stakes while dormant (late fall to early spring).
Do not allow the material to dry out. Soak before planting for around 24 hours to increase survival and growth rate.
Use stakes larger than a pencil to about 1in diameter; 4-12 ins length
HOW TO LIVE STAKE
Cut branches at 45 degree angles and place root end down in water. Use re-bar to create a pilot hole into soil, and plant at right angles (buds oriented up) with at least two-thirds of its length in the ground. Plant stakes randomly or 6-12ins apart on triangular spacing. Tamp the soil down around the cuttings before watering. Irrigation may be necessary if a long dry spell or hot weather is expected following installation.
this section Adapted from ERNST Conservation Seeds, a great place to order bulk live stakes for your soil stabilization projects
