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Sodding is a method in which clumps of grass of herbaceous plants and soil are lifted from existing beds and transplanted to the disturbed sites. Small sections or plugs can be dug and lifted from wild land sites or nursery or greenhouse grown. The plugs are placed at a depth in the soil which allows the aerial parts of the plant to be exposed. Large rolls of sod also can be lifted and field planted on areas where surface stability is critical. Sections of sod containing reeds, reed grasses, rushes, or sedges can be dug or lifted from native plant communities using large diggers, front -end loaders, and backhoes. The sod or root mass is then transferred to the planting site and planted. Reed rolls are very good to use in the splash zone. They are constructed by combining sections of sod, rhizomes, and shoots, and enclosing them within a wire net and placing all components in a trench. Various herbaceous plants can be planted in this manner, but the method particularly lends itself to bullrushes and reed grasses. A trench about 16 inches in width is dug into the bank, wire netting is stretched across the trench; coarse gravel, sod, and reed-clumps are placed in the wire net; and the wire net is then drawn around the material and then tied with wire. A row of stakes or planks are placed on each side of the roll and attached to the wire for stability. The whole system is then covered just enough to leave aerial stems exposed. The upper edge of the roll should not be more than two inches above ground level. Since the bank zone along Buffalo Creek will be exposed to considerable flooding and current action, shrub-like willow, dogwood, birch and alder transplants or one-year-old rooted cuttings are effectively used in this zone. These transplants or cuttings should be planted one to two feet apart and in rows. Newly planted banks are usually subject to additional erosion and the shrub plantings should have mulch placed over them to serve as temporary protection, or held firmly to the bank using a long term natural/synthetic erosion control mat. Erosion control mats should have the proven performance to withstand flows of 6-8 ft/second for 48 hours duration. Branches of woody plants make good mulch and should be the heaviest on outside curves of the stream where the current strikes the bank. The mulch should be tied down with chicken wire or wire laced between stakes since the mulch may float away when flooded. Where severe erosion is expected, as is the case along Buffalo Creek, the bank zone should be further protected using a combination of supportive measures. Supportive measures that have been used successfully include willow barriers, fascines, wattles, and stone paving with willow slips among the stones. Willow barriers or mats are interlaced willow switches 5 to 6 feet long that are placed perpendicular to the bank. The switches are cut from live willow plants and kept moist until planting. The willow switches will sprout after planting, but care must be taken to obtain the switches early in the growing season before the mother stock has started to grow extensively, or in the fall following leaf defoliation. Willow switches are held together and in place by wire or by willow hurdling (willow branches used as a strapping) fastened to stakes. Willow switches are placed in a 6 inch deep excavation and are lightly covered with earth so that the branches are set in each, but not completely covered. 31