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All along the coast, beaches and dunes are damaged by wind, waves, storms, hurricanes and pedestrian traffic. Without the presence of manmade structures and the desire to protect them, nature would rebuild by itself the shape of the beaches and dunes over a period of time. However that is precisely the problem: time. We need, now, the protection of the sand dunes for our homes and businesses. Of course we would like to enjoy the beauty of the well-balanced native environment without having to wait for 20 years to see the results. Several organizations, including local, state and federal, work on optimizing what can be done to achieve this goal.

In the best-case scenario the dune restoration and preservation projects include 3 phases:

  • Renourishment or sand addition performed with truck loads of sand
  • Sand Fencing
  • Revegetation

Renourishments are an amazing and very efficient way to accelerate the process of dune reconstruction. Without revegetation, the sand starts shifting as soon as the wind gets a hold of it.

Many plant species thrive in the dune ecosystem. They are astonishingly tolerant to salinity, high temperatures, wind abrasion and prosper in both wet and dry soil conditions.

From Texas to North Carolina, sea oats are the most commonly recommended plants to help in restoring sand dunes. The list of plants available is more extensive. We would like to present you with some of the other plants native to the coastal environment. They all have efficient erosion control characteristics. On well established dunes, it is their interaction which creates that solid barrier protecting homes and businesses from being directly hit by the elements.

Naturally depending on your location on the coast, the variety of native species available for dune restoration will vary. We strive to use only local native stock and recommend to include as much variety as possible. A monoculture, for instance the restrictive use of uniquely sea oats, lowers the efficiency of the dune’s protection. So let us show you what results you can achieve in a very reasonable time with very little effort.