Vegetation is critical in stabilizing soil materials.
The roots of vegetative material bind soil on hillsides and the leaves intercept rainfall, thereby cushioning the raindrop impact on the soil and reducing the amount of water available for overland flow. Before revegetation efforts are initiated, it is important to insure that the physical characteristics of the landscape e.g., slope, aspect, soil texture, organic material content, depth of water table are appropriate for the site location and will serve as a suitable planting medium for the desired vegetative community. It is worth putting money and effort into site preparation as it will pay off in revegetation success. There are a plethora of revegetation guides available on the web and in hard copy. Many of these have been published by native plant nurseries, businesses that have dealt with the complexity of re-establishing native plants and eradicating exotic plants, and by university extensions.