Planting beach grass is a great idea.
Just a few questions:
Why is it your decision? Shouldn't the Federal/ local government have guidelines in place on what should be planted or done to restore the shoreline?
Also on a dune that is 3 feet tall shouldn't it be possible to plant on it without having "people (the planters) tromping all over them."

I don't mean to offend , just curious.

Good questions -- three feet tall but quite wide, so they'd have to walk on it.

It's in the Rodanthe/Waves/Salvo section of the Outer Banks, where it was ground zero for Irene, got a 30 foot dune wiped out in Sandy, and flooded in Arthur.

The local govt is having enough trouble just keeping Hwy 12 open, as it has gotten hammered in each storm as well, and they're not helping with the dunes.

This is a section of dune at the end of one street, in between two camp grounds that are actively building their dunes with fencing.. Long story short -- I paid for the first year of fencing, then collected money from others on the street for the next two years of fencing. I'm holding the money, so I make the decisions :)

Local wisdom says plant beach grass, but then local wisdom has made some really dumb decisions about various things on the Outer Banks (like building houses in places where they routinely wash away), so I have my doubts.

Thanks for the input, darth weeder.

Although it may appear that the dune is stable the wind is still eroding it. The dune, beach, grass will help stabilize that dune much better then fencing ever will. Ma Nature has planted dune grass in many places to aid in preventing erosion of those dunes.

Hey Elisa !

Great project there you're participating in !

There are projects like that on our coasts too. There's one I'm familiar with and much bermuda grass has been planted. I can provide with that, I've got quite a lot in my garden, but then so has Tox and I guess he won't mind sharing ;-) The bermuda is growing right there in the sand, sometimes in a mat of dead algae full of salt, no much rain and when there is it is a lot, and this grass is doing a good job rebuilding the dunes.

There's also a nice bush that is used which is sea buckthorn, or scientific name hippophae ramnoides. It's a real nice bush with orange fruits in winter, and it grows in sand and doesn't mind salt. On top of that sea buckthorn fixes nitrogen like legumes so it helps the grass underneath. If you're the one with the cash then you can choose to hold the dune and feed the birds with nice bushes !

Only downside of sea buckthorn is that it is a dioecious bush, you need males and females to get fruits, and I think it must be watered the first year it is planted so as to settle properly in the sand.

As for building houses where they're going to be washed away or flooded... not really dumbness, but rather greed ;-)Those nice views of the sea from the windows are worth millions aren't they, until it's the underworld and the fish one can see from the windows !

@francoise - thanks! I didn't know that Sea buckthorn is a nitrogen fixer. I have a big one in my yard, the apple tree next to it is very productive (well, every other year), not to mention tasty, I was wondering why it produces so well. Maybe that is a factor.

I like the berries in the occasional tea although bitter as anything on its own. Which is probably for the best, since they aren't kidding about the 'thorn' part of the name.

(Can't say about other places but it seems tolerant of non-sandy / salty soils as well...)

Thanks for the input everyone. So, beach grass good.

Love the underwater house Francoise. And yes, greed is it. There was a section of beach that belonged to an old family here, and the state reposessed it by imminent domain, paying very little for it. It became part of the wild life preserve for many years. Then, all of a sudden, million dollar homes showed up on it. How did it go from preserve to private? The only answer has been political graft. Now, only one of those homes still stands -- all washed away or relocated. When the owners knew the houses would soon wash away, they quickly installed expensive pools and hot tubs, to up the ante for insurance payments. Remember the house in "Nights in Rodanthe"? That was one of them.

Armoured,
You're lucky to have this thorny bush growing close to the apple tree ! These bushes are quite amazing, not only do they fix nitrogen but they're also very good mycorhizal ones, so they're great bushes to have. Are there other ones close by, because normally the female needs a male to produce berries. The male is not as interesting as the female since it has the thorns but no berries (no metaphor intended ;-)

Elisa,
I wondered whether insurance companies paid for the washed away houses in the US as they do in France but didn't dare asking. It's a shame to increase the value to get the insurance money, as if this money was printed for free ! No it is not ! In fact insurance companies don't care much paying, the following year they increase the bill of every insured person and there you are, the loss is just supported by everyone of us ! Anyway keep up the good job with your dune !

Elisa,

There is a most beautiful beach in Nova Scotia, Canada known as Mavilette Beach. After it's dunes were destroyed by ATVs in the 1970s and 80s, the locals decided to restore them as they saw more economic good coming from the dunes than what the ATVs had produced.

They started by asking the people to bring their spent Christmas trees one year and reformed the dunes by placing the trees where the dunes had existed. In essence the trees became the 'bones' of the dunes. The grass came on it's own and today we are able to enjoy the dunes which we coveted as youngsters 40 years ago.

It took about 10 years to restore them 100% but even in the first two years you could see it all taking place. It was amazing to watch from year to year.:O)

Good luck and all the best!!

Nice Christmas post, tiffy :)
Yes, we encourage everyone from the street to drag their branches down to the sand fence when they trim their bushes. We should get the word out to the few year round families to bring their Christmas trees down there as well!

Hi Elisa, I don't know whether you're still interested in the subject but as I went to a beach where a dune is being reconstructed I thought about your project and took a few photos.

Mixed with grass, some purslane has been planted, it's called witches'claw purslane and can grow on salty sand and no watering, and it has nice pink flowers even in winter.

I don't want to overwhelm you with photos but I've got some more, I guess you get the idea with those, but if you'd like some more, I can send them.