Please note that the following information was translated from French and may not be perfect but if you have questions, Carl Poirier at HLF will be glad to help you to find solutions.
The main objective here is to give you the Web addresses to find additional information on the plants, trees and bushes you should plant on your shoreline. The objective is to absorb and slow down the nutrient laden runoff (sediment) and thereby deny the blue-green algae and other invasive plants such as Eurasian milfoil the nutrients (phosphates) that would allow them to establish a foothold in our lakebed.
You want to protect the value of your property on the lake? Among the choices are at your fingertips, here are a few:
- Good maintenance of your septic tank
- A type of boat that would worsen bank erosion, an important cause of cyanobacteria, and quiet enough not to give the impression to other residents that live on the edge of a motorway, and thus harm the reputation of the lake.
- The revegetation of riverbanks. We explore this point further here.
Revegetation of banks:
20-30 years ago people believed that a beautiful lawn to the lake, or a beautiful stone wall, were appropriate choices. Today the majority knows that these choices affect regeneration. The following services rendered by a buffer strip of 10 or 15 meters (if slope of 30 °) rich in natural vegetation:
- Reduced velocity of runoff and promotes infiltration of water into the soil.
- Captures a large portion of sediment and nutrients entering the lake by runoff and thus limits the growth of algae
- Stabilizes the banks, reduces erosion and landslides
- Limits the overheating of the water along the lake, one of the causes of cyanobacteria.
- Promote aquatic and terrestrial life.
How to improve my shoreline?
- Stop mowing the grass on the shoreline 10 or 15 m and let nature take its course
- Complement the existing natural regeneration by planting native species adapted to different banks.
What plant?
It is important to choose the right plant for the right place. We must therefore take into account the slope, type of soil, sunlight, etc.. For information:
Contact an experienced horticulturist. Here in Lac-Simon, farm HLF, 684 Montée Desabrais has this expertise. View http://www.fermehlf.com
see: http://www.aqpp.org/fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=260&Itemid=94
In the menu, you'll find
- a color directory of plants:
http://www.fihoq.qc.ca/Repertoire_vegetaux_couleur.pdf - A list of plants recommended:
http://www.aqpp.org/fr/Documents/Membres/repertoire_vegetaux-web.pdf - a search engine helping you make your choice:
http://www.fihoq.qc.ca/html/recherche.php
Cette page est aussi disponible en: French
