Guidelines for Planting and Maintaining Loblolly Pine and Other Cover for Roadbank Stabilization

Lack of planting on roadbanks has produced unsightly areas and severe erosion. Even today, roadbanks are still responsible for much of the sediment in streams and rivers because roadside planting has not kept pace with other sedimentation control measures. Grasses are most commonly used, but loblolly pine is finding increasing favor for stabilizing roadbanks. In 1942, eroding roadsides within the Little Tallahatchie Watershed in north Mississippi were reported 1 as producing 17 percent of the sediment causing damage in stream bottoms. During the last 12 years, more than 7 million loblolly pine seedlings have been planted on State and county roadsides in northwestern Mississippi. Other species are also being increasingly used. Conservation workers, too, have embarked on a wide scale stabilization and beautification program for roadbanks. Broadleaf and conifer trees are well suited for roadside planting, but loblolly is particularly suited for this purpose. Erosion control is only the first of many objectives. Trees will lower right-of-way maintenance costs. Grasses need to be periodically fertilized to maintain good cover on roadbanks; trees do not, and yet they control erosion well. Trees eliminate the need for weed control and for maintenance mowing, which can cost $10 or more per acre per year.

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Author(s): Hamlin L. Williston

Publication: Tree Planters' Notes - Volume 22, Number 2 (1971)

Volume: 22

Number: 2