kimm - might want to check your State code - see Public Act 40 of 1956. Taken from one county Drain Commissioner website. (you'll see essentially the same in any MI county Drain Commissioner site): "Responsibilities of the Drain Commissioner The Drain Commissioner is responsible for the construction, operation and maintenance of designated County Drains. The Drain Commissioner also serves on the County Parks and Recreation Board as well as on the Board of Public Works. Under the Inland Lake Improvement Act, Part 309 of Act 451 of 1994, the Drain Commissioner serves as a member of any Lake Improvement Board. The Drain Commissioner is also the County Enforcing Agent (CEA) under the Soil Erosion and Sedimentation Control Act, Part 91 of Act 451 of 1994. That is, soil erosion and sedimentation control permits are issued through the Drain Commissioner's Office" You may see the road guys may be doing the work, but the responsibility and authority rests with the Drain Commissioner. edit - note added: in MI not all ditches along county roads are county drains. Form the same county DC website: "There are many natural watercourses, private ditches, private pipelines, and roadside ditches that are not County Drains. The Drain Commissioner has virtually no jurisdiction on these systems." This post was edited by TXEB on Wed, Jun 26, 13 at 11:19

Ground ivy (AKA creeping charlie) would cover the ground and stop erossion, and is s short compact plant. It can stand lots of water for short periods and is very dought resistant. But this stuff is the "Kudzu of the north"; Don't even consider it. It is invasive and almost impossible to eradicate. If the ditch drains well and has no standing pools of water, try turing it into a bed of day lillies. Start by planting two rows the length of the ditch. Place the rows at aproximately 1/3 width of the ditch. The initial planting dos not have to be dense. A spacing of 6 inches or more between plants is sufficient. Within a few years, the lillies will multiply and spread across the entire ditch. For variety, plant more than one kind of lilly, maybe a few iris as well. Standard iris is about 2 ft tall, but there are dwarf varieties available. If you can find a source of wild wood iris, a few of these would be nice. It is a protected plant, so don't go diggin them up in the wild. The day lilly ranges from 18 to 24 inches tall with longer flower stems. Lillies are easily contained by mowing or an edging. if you decide you don't like them, they can be killed by keeping them mowed over three years. After the bed is established, it will require thining to maintain flowering. However, you can let the bed go if flowering is not a prime objective. They will become crowded and not much of anything else can grow in the bed.

Yes drainage pipe. I'm just wanting something to mask the fence I guess. I thought the roses would be just beautiful but I'm thinking anything really green will look beautiful as well. Something that won't damage the fence to where it would need a sooner replacement and something that will keep my husband from worrying. Someone on an ajoining street filled in their backyard ditch so that started to make others yards flood so they had to install the drainage pipes. I of course do not want to do anything to mess up the "flow" - We are in Dickinson, TX - Just had a ton of rain and the ditch did not even hold any water in it.

ditto to babs and laceyvail. Astilbes love it moist - don't think they would like the standing water, but perhaps along the edge of the ditch... I updated an existing garden that is under water for parts of the year; it is at the base of a hill on one side, with a creek that runs along it on the other side. Often it has standing water for weeks on end, of at least 6 inches (I lost a shoe in there once, lol - foot came right out of it when I went to move!). I ended up planting a lot of shrubs, as this is a large area and we were looking for big things. I also wasn't planting right in the water flow, as it sounds like you may be doing, so that will affect what you plant compared to what I planted, but still, maybe this will be of some help. I'll list below (from hopefully-good memory) what we planted. - willow hakuro nishiki - probably way too big for you - I planted two of them, just to give you an idea of the large area I was dealing with. These are spectacular, though, IMO, if you wanted to consider one of them as a specimen... - astilbes - japanese and louisiana iris - clethra - itea - cephalanthus (lovely and underused, IMO, and some new dwarf (4-ft) varieties out there now, I see - redtwig dogwood - viburnum (probably too big for you) - deciduous hollies (again probably too big for you) - marsh marigold - bog rosemary - lobelia siphilitica and cardinalis - the siphilitica is truly beautiful, but I would not plant this again - very vigorous spreader and I just don't have time to maintain/control. The cardinalis is spectacular (and I don't even care for red blooms!) and I highly recommend this one. - ligularia - filipendula (can't remember which kind off the top of my head) - cimicifuga - swamp azalea - marsh hibiscus Already in this garden and doing surprisingly well were bleeding hearts, hosta, hydrangea, peonies, columbines and some kind of small bulb which I'm drawing a total blank on at the moment - like a scilla or something... ugh, sorry, can't think of it. And of course there are ferns, which were probably there before any garden was even thought of! There is also an elderberry which pre-existed the garden - this is along a wooded area so some things were growing there already, such as the elderberry, ferns, a clethra, etc. (plus virginia creeper, jewelweed, pokeberry, sigh....) I think that is most of it. Good luck to you!