Shoreline Conservation
Designing Landscape Buffers for Water Quality
Shoreline Conservation
• Topics
• Designing Shoreline Buffers for Water Quality
• Concepts & Examples
• Guidelines for Installing a Buffer
• Maintenance Guidelines
• Native Plants for Shoreline Buffers
Designing Shoreline Buffers
Design Process• Site Analysis
• Define Goals
• Accurately Map Existing Site Conditions
• Develop Schematic Design
• Refine Design, Select Plants
Concepts and Examples
Guidelines for Installing Buffers
Guidelines for Installing Buffers
• If possible let natural succession take the lead and adjust from there.
• Handle erosion forces with bio-engineering techniques, when applicable.
• Minimize ground disturbance, preserve existing root mass.
• Select plants based upon plant community models.
Cylindrical structures composted of coconut husk fibers bound together with twine woven from coconut material to protect slopes from erosion while trapping sediment which encourages plant growth within the fiber roll.
Coconut Fiber Rolls
Alternating layers of plantings and compacted soil with natural or synthetic geo-textile materials wrapped around each soil lift to rebuild and vegetate eroded shoreline. This may be used in conjunction with stone armoring.
Vegetated Geogrids
Maintenance Guidelines
Maintenance Guidelines
• Select desired succession level and manage accordingly• Keep undesirable trees and shrubs minimized by cut and paint• No fertilizers or sprayed herbicides if possible
Native Plants For Shoreline Buffers
IronweedVeronia noveboracensis
Cardinal FlowerLobelia cardinalis
Joe-Pye-WeedEupatorium fistulosum
River OatsChasmanthium latifolium
Switch GrassPanicum virgatum
Narrow Leaved CattailTypha angustifolia
Blue Flag IrisIris versicolor
White Top SedgeRhynchospora colorata
Soft RushJuncus effusus
Virginia SweetspireItea virginica
Summer Sweet ClethraClethra alnifolia
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