Thanks, all, for the additional comments. That steep bank is very dangerous for the new neighbor to mow. It is stable and not subject to erosion except when a local utility contractor screws up--and now this winter with the damage the snow plow has done. The utility fixed the problem that's shown in the photos. It's OK now. Unfortunately, those are the only photos of the area that I have available to upload and they seem to have become too much of a distraction. If this were my property, I would have replaced the grass with low-maintenance plant material long ago. Definitely not hardscaping. Rip rap would be my very last choice if it were my property. I think the neighbor agrees. I'm looking for plant material suggestions from you guys to supplement whatever recommendations (and whatever limitations) we get locally. The immediate concern will be the portion of that sloped area that the errant snow plow and the tow truck tore up last month. Replanting that torn-up area with grass would make no sense at all. For those of you commenting on the unrelated erosion at the stream bends.........I obtained a rudimentary plan from either SCS or SWCD about 30 years ago for the former neighbor after the stream flooding was exacerbated by the city's street construction project in '79. (Back in those days, I knew people at most of the state and federal agencies.) That plan didn't address the embankment along the street because that area was not eroding and not a concern. The plan focused on the two 90� bends and proposed using limestone rip rap. The neighbor felt the plan was too expensive and nothing was ever done. The new neighbor now has that old plan, but didn't particularly like it either. In any case that problem is less pressing. Ken, That link you provided is one I hadn't seen. Unfortunately, none of the shrubs in that list are identified for erosion control. Other than the trees, the only thing recommended for erosion control is the Pachysandra and I thought it was better suited to shade. It does extremely well in shade near the stream in our yard. If it can tolerate full sun, it might be something to consider. Strobiculate, you mentioned Forsythia. I've got F. 'Ottawa' near the street in my yard. It stays relatively small and will tip-root. It's something I had considered supplying to the neighbor, but hadn't seen it recommended specifically as a shrub that's good for erosion. Do you have experience with Forsythia as an erosion control plant? I'll have to check it out, too. I've also got American Cranberry growing along that stream in my yard, but I don't know how well it would do on a steep slope for erosion control. Have you had experience with it or seen it used in a situation like this? No one has commented on my query re the Calycanthus 'Athens." The species is supposed to be good for erosion control, but I don't know about full sun on this kind of a slope. It suckers and that's probably why it's recommended, but can we keep it away from the street? Maybe we'll have to be the guinea pigs on that one if the neighbor's willing.

David, None of the rocks are mortared or foamed into place. The gravel in the stream has not been a problem for me. If anything, I think it provides additional filtration. I do not, for the reasons you cited, have rocks in the bottom of my pond. I've 'been there, done that' so I can say from experience that there is a big difference between rocks in a swiftly moving stream and rocks sitting in stagnant water on the bottom of a pond. When I shut down in the winter, all the water drains from the stream and then I do some cleaning. There is almost nothing by way of debris or build-up under the rocks. Algae could be a problem if your stream is going to be in full sun. Mine's in mostly shade so I haven't had the issues with algae that most have. Mulm is not a problem for me because my water is mechanically filtered before it gets to the stream (pond to mechanical filters (via bottom drains and skimmer) - to pump - to biological filter - to stream). I saw your mention of a polytank filter - is that a biological filter? Do you also plan to have some sort of mechanical filtration? If not, then perhaps the mulm might be a problem as a biological filter will not filter out any solids. The warning you mention about water disappearing behind and below rocks has some validity, but I think it depends on how much water you're pumping. With 5000+ gallons per hour, there's plenty enough water to fill up a 2-3 foot wide streambed (minus whatever volume the rocks take up) with about 3 inches of water. If you think your final gph will be only about 3000, then you'll probably want to adjust stream width accordingly. As someone above mentioned, there are formulas to figure out the technical aspects of all that - I won't even try as I'm no expert. I can only tell you what I have and the results I get. (I bet Mike_IL would be able to tell you exactly - maybe he'll jump in here...) Of course, you can always take the advice of most every ponder out there - go bigger than you initially plan because most likely you'll wish you had. If you haven't gotten your pump yet, consider a slightly larger one. Also consider a bottom drain plumbed to a mechanical filter. It goes a long way to keeping a pond clean and clear.

Hello, We have an older Sony CRT with no HDMI cables. I have a Zoom brand cable modem connected, via a cable, to an Apple wireless rounter (A Base Station, they call it.) This gives us wireless internet in the house. I have a Roku box connected to video inputs on the TV. This is the old three color system, with white red and yellow pin inputs. The cables for this were in the box with the Roku. The Roku has wireless capability so it works off of the router signal when just plugged into the TV and the power source. We do need to switch between video feeds on the TV to get to the Roku, but this is a simple matter of pressing a button on the TV remote. If you have something like "video 1, video 2, video 3" selections and you only get a blank screen, those inputs are marked as such on the back of your TV and you can use them. If you only have one set of these, you may have to swap out the cables if your DVD player uses the inputs. This might be a good argument for getting a Netflix enabled DVD player or game console. If your DVD player is a good one and you can't see spending the money, you should consider the Roku. The base model today is $59.99 at Roku.com. The website lets you see the back of the device, so you can check out the input areas to see if it matches what you have on your TV. They are very backward compatible in general, so I'm sure you won't have problems there. I bought the XD model ($79.99) for when we upgrade to a better 1080p HD in a couple years, plus it supports the wireless "N" protocall which is the newer, fastest level of wireless and it matches our router. I may have wasted $20.00 because we don't use the internet while watching the Roku and my guess is with the way HDTVs are developing, our future TV will have Netflix ability built into it and we won't need the roku box. Oh well! All it might take for you to get up and running on DSL: call your provider company and ask them for a wireless DSL modem. You might be able to get one for free from them. This will give you wireless in the house and your Roku box will be up in a jiff. When we had DSL we had the wireless router and were happy with it. There was an initial problem with not being able to acess the internet while on the wireless phone, but that is a setting on the modem that can be changed with a quick call to your provider. It is a simple fix and they walk you through it. As to the bandwidth issue go to www.speedtest.net and check your speed it is easy and free. You might be able to research your speed and see how this effects others with Netflix. Just a thought. To give you courage, (if you need it!) go to Youtube and search "set up Roku on DSL," or "set up Roku." Peolpe have made some quick video's of themselves doing this and you'll see how simple it really is. Good luck with it all! We love streaming Netflix. We still sometimes look at each other and say, "This is so awsome!" Here is a link that might be useful: Speed test

After getting irritated that your neighbor did not tell you about the dye before hand, you boast that you did not tell him about dye you ordered? Wouldn't want to be the neighbor of either of you! You may want to ask your lawyer how your planned action differs from your neighbor's.