First Steps
1) Consult with your county extension agent (Midland contact or Gladwin contact) or a professional landscaper for an on-site inspection and recommendations.
3) Install riprap (rocks) to stabilize current slopes and replace rocks by your sea wall. Note: this may require a permit from EGLE.
4) Extend drain lines from your seawall down to the foot of the shoreline slope or current water’s edge. This will protect your shoreline from further erosion.
- They will recommend plants or other strategies to stabilize shorelines based on slope, elevation, moisture content and soil type, or whether riprap is the best solution. Riprap is a more expensive solution than planting
- The extension agent may recommend planting warm season native grasses. These grasses have relatively expensive seeds and should only planted be in the winter dormant season or in springtime. Recommended warm season grasses may be found further down on this page. The warm season native grasses have deep roots that are effective at erosion control, but are slow to establish and can take two seasons to become effective
- Cool season grasses (grasses planted on lawns in our area) establish faster, the seeds are less expensive and may be planted in winter dormant season, springtime or fall. A good choice for a cool season grass is tall fescue, type Kentucky 31. It spouts quickly and roots as deeply as warm season grasses. Mixing rapid-germinating seasonal rye grass seed or seed oats with the perennial erosion control grass seed will help the perennial grass establish
- There are two types of tall fescue seed. One has no coating and the other has a coating to discourage geese from eating it. The coated seeds cost more and germinate more slowly, but will be necessary if you do not cover the seeds with an erosion blanket…unless you like feeding the geese
3) Install riprap (rocks) to stabilize current slopes and replace rocks by your sea wall. Note: this may require a permit from EGLE.
4) Extend drain lines from your seawall down to the foot of the shoreline slope or current water’s edge. This will protect your shoreline from further erosion.
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Planting grass: The best choice of grass seed for stabilizing the bottom land is Kentucky 31 tall fescue. The seed is available at Tractor Supply, Walmart and Menards (call ahead to check availability). The Gladwin County Conservation District and Four Lakes Task Force may also have this seed watch for information). Sow this seed at a rate of 5 lbs./1,000 square feet. This seed may be successfully planted any time other than the spring runoff (when seed may be washed away) or the summer hot/dry season (when the seed may germinate and then die without constant watering).
For best results, protect your grass planting by covering the seeded area with erosion control mats. These mats are available at a number of local suppliers and may also become available through the Gladwin County Extension service and Four Lakes Task Force. |
Kentucky 31 tall fescue grass
Erosion control blanket
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What Should I Plant?
The least expensive option is a grass seed native to or adapted to Michigan, along with a nurse crop, which grows quickly and protects slower-growing perennial grasses. Plant native grasses in the spring and tall fescue grass in the spring or fall. Tall fescue will germinate and establish more rapidly than warm season grasses.
Native Grasses
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Nurse Crops
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How Do I Plant Them?
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Further Resources Download or print a PDF version of the information on this webpage. |
Erosion Control Products and Seeds
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Erosion Products
Distributors
Manufacturer Representatives
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Seawall Repair
Where to Get Seeds (2020 pricing) Kentucky 31 Tall Fescue sources: Tractor Supply, Walmart, Menards, Sweeney Seed Co. (Mt. Pleasant), Lowes, Home Depot, Standish Milling (Standish) and many more seed stores Touch of Country
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FLTF does not endorse, support, work with, or receive any sort of compensation or kick-back from any of these businesses.
