I am looking for information on growing trees in sand on sand dunes surrounding lakes where gravel was removed. A few pine trees are growing there expecially close to the shore line. The locality involved is in southeastern Louisiana. Also information on ground cover that would grow in this area would be helpful.

Is the purpose to hold the bank togeter, or to get fastgrowing trees satrted, or aesthetic landscaping?

If it is shorline stablization I would recomend things like fast growing hybrid poplars. poplars are a natural pioneer species, and the hybrids are selected for very fast growth.

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John Paul Sanborn
Consulting Arborist/Subcontracting Arborist
SE Wisconsin
414-379-0442

John, the prupose is not to stablize the bank but mainly to get fast growing trees to cover a rather barren landscape and to be attractive if possible.

Well I was going to paste in a journal articale.... I notice that strange character set is back and I can't see what I'm typing... but the editor and webmaster have not answered my July 30 query about pasting.

The author is Legee, Melissa et al, it's in Forest Ecology and Management and the titie is about non-native Pinus nigra in sand dunes on Lake Michigan. THat might give you pointers to more literature.

I would think there is nots of info from various state and federal agencies that do beach stabilization (though that's not your goal). In LA maybe the oil companies have some experience in site restoration.

I think Dr. Don Marx did a lot of the original work on michorryzae in studies of strip mine reclamation. I'd checjk out that area as well.