Fascines & Brush Layer Benefits to The Environment
Incorporating natural fascines and brush layer administration into the wetland and sloped land property is the optimal choice for environmentally-friendly land conservation. Land conservation management is imperative to protect the land from natural and catastrophic conditions that both erode and deplete the soil.
A lack of trees, shrubs, and other vegetation on hillsides, banks, and fields invite erosion and soil depletion when rainwater spills off the land, rivers swell, or tributaries flow. Pervasive drainage over large land areas, such as farmlands, can cause flooding when rainwater drains off the land quickly.
But, as necessary as it is to protect the land from the consequence of natural and catastrophic events, there is the need for an environmentally-friendly strategy to protect the ecosystem and surrounding communities. That solution is found in natural fascines and brush layer administration.
What is a natural plant fascine?
A natural fascine is a bundling of living plant branches laid across the terrain to support the land. A fascine can be utilized for many purposes: construction, military; agricultural; or general land use. The typical application is in wetlands, flood plains, stormwater retention areas, and ditches. For example, a fascine is utilized to fill in the marshy ground; it provides strength and support to the sides of dams, ditches, and trenches; it protects banks of streams and rivers from erosion, and the military often uses a fascine to create a path or access road across uneven or wet terrain.
What is Brush Layering?
Brush layering, also known as "brush matting," protects river banks and hillsides that are vulnerable to erosion and ground scrubbing when a river is swelled or flooded. Live branch sections - also called "live stakes," "live planting," and "pole planting" - are laid sideways on the bank and partially buried into a trench of wet soil. The branching roughens the ground surface, slowing water run-off flow. Protection of the land slope is further stabilized when the live branches take root and become bushes, further binding the soil with their root system and blocking the water flow with its foliage.
Benefits of Fascines and Brush Layer to the Environment The benefits of natural fascine and brush layer administration are without negative consequences. Their usage provides an environmentally-friendly option that is easy to implement, low-cost, and versatile for many land applications.
Willow, red osier dogwood and black cottonwood are commonly used in brush layering because they are hardy, durable, and adaptable plants that are easy to grow with excellent root strength.
Bio-engineering with such provides a bio-sustainable solution for flood control, erosion control, drainage speed, and soil filtration, thereby benefitting the land. The systems trap soil and debris being carried via run-off, protecting tributaries and communities downstream. Brush layering, via live stakes, slows water flow over the land surface and, together with the renewed root system, provides effective water penetration into the soil. The shrub growth also provides a windbreak for people, animals, and crops. Best of all, you realize a highly effective system at a meager cost.
