I'd like to control wooded ravine erosion in a area due to spring thawing & runoff. I have loose forest soil (Miami 27E/Landes 304) on top of clay. Are there any shade- tolerant trees/shrubs which could be planted along the ravine to help stabilize the soil? Thank you.

Greetings Craig,

Ravine erosion is generally caused by agricultural erosion (tile or surface runoff). Therefore, I would suggest finding the source of the erosion and attempt to mitigate the point-source problem first. Moreover, I would suggest contacting the local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office to see if they have any government programs to assist you in engineering something using structures or vegetative plantings.

I don't believe planting a bunch of flowering dogwood, serviceberry, and virburnum are going to fix the problem. I believe you are going to need more than shade tolerant shrubs and trees.

Hope this helped!