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What sorts of plants are good at holding the edge of a cliff? I'd prefer to avoid planting tall things in order to still be able to see off of the cliff. The site is in hardiness zone 5 and is high above a large salt-water bay. It sees an average to high amount of precipitation, with at most a few weeks between rainfalls in the summer. The land coming up to the cliff is pretty flat. Soil pH is probably pretty low, acid or possibly very acid.

J. Musser
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user497
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1 Answers1

9

  • Hooker Willow (Salix hookeriana) - Salt spray tolerant - Hardiness Zone 6 to 10.

  • Snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) - Tolerates high winds and often grows on vegetated slopes overlooking salt water - Hardiness Zone 3 to 7.

  • Salal (Gaultheria shallon) - Tolerates salt spray - Hardiness Zone 6 to 10.

  • Kinnickinick (Arctostaphylos Uva-ursi) - Tolerates salt spray - Hardiness Zone 3 to 7.

  • Evergreen Huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum) - Tolerates salt spray - Hardiness Zone 4 to 8.

  • Nootka Rose (Rosa nutkana) - Tolerates salt spray - Hardiness Zone 3 to 8.

  • Wax Myrtle (Myrica californica) - Tolerates salt spray - Hardiness Zone 7 to 10.

The above list of "suitable" plants came from, "Slope Stabilization > Plant Selection Guide" by Department of Ecology State of Washington.

The following table will help you select the best plants for your erosion control or slope stabilization project.

You might also want to read through their thorough, "Slope Stabilization and Erosion Control" guide.

Here is another plant (shrub) that might be worth a loot at:

I planted 6 of them on a 30° slope in my back garden earlier this year.

Below are a couple of review comments for the Fragrant Sumac

It is our go-to plant on our campus when we need a drought tolerant, salt tolerant, shade tolerant, and truck tire tolerant plant! Derek K. State College, PA

When I bought this plant it was a neglected, small, unassuming variety of low-growing member of the Rhus family that I had never seen before. I took it home to settle in my new rock garden. The tag description stated its eventual height as .8M and width as 2M. It fulfilled its height description, but is now easily 4-5M wide and growing! It's taking over my whole rock garden knoll. What to do; I love this crazy plant. Sharon West Quebec; Canada

Personally I'm a big fan of Switchgrasses (Panicum), have 15 Switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum - Northwind) in my back garden. The below Switchgass is salt tolerant:

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Mike Perry
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  • Thanks.. I should have been more explicit about the height of the cliff (question since edited). There's no danger of salt *spray* as the cliff is probably 40 feet high. – user497 Jul 21 '11 at 23:24
  • Though maybe you're thinking about planting on the cliff face itself? It's a pretty severe slope (probably 80° or so) and is mostly bare rock, though there are patches of soil with things growing here and there on it. – user497 Jul 21 '11 at 23:26
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    @user497, I selected the plants from "Slope Stabilization > Plant Selection Guide" that I thought would be the hardiest in an ocean exposed environment, hence choosing plants that "Tolerates salt spray". In your situation there might be no danger of "salt spray", but they will be a lot! of salt in the air (environment). Therefore I thought it safer (rightly or wrongly) to give you the hardiest plants for such a difficult growing environment... – Mike Perry Jul 21 '11 at 23:41
  • Any idea which of these plants would be hardy enough for my region? Coastal Washington is 3-4 zones higher than where I'm at. ([8 or 9](http://www.gardentimeonline.com/WashingtonHardinessZoneMap.html)) – user497 Jul 23 '11 at 01:32
  • (by "hardy" here I mean specifically with respect to winter low temperatures) – user497 Jul 23 '11 at 01:49
  • @user497, I've added "Hardiness Zone" information to all the plants I listed, [see above](http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/1405/good-plants-to-hold-the-edge-of-a-cliff/1411#1411). Plus I added in another plant "Bitter Switchgrass". Hope that helps. – Mike Perry Jul 23 '11 at 02:45
  • @user497, I've *"generally"* found that a plants listed "Hardiness Zone" can be increased/decreased 1 zone *"fairly"* safely. Though do keep in mind, your mileage may vary if you do decide to take that chance... – Mike Perry Jul 23 '11 at 02:55