A Vegetative Treatment Area (VTA) for a vegetative treatment system (VTS) must be planted to a perennial crop that is harvested (grazing is not allowed) at least annually. Cool season, sod-forming grasses are best suited for use in VTAs. It is typical to use grasses that take up a lot of nitrogen, are good at minimizing soil erosion, perform well in the local climate, and have value as a feedstock (see list below) or other use. In some systems where the VTA will be exposed to standing water, such as a level VTA, plant species that are able to survive frequent flooding (see list of more water-tolerant examples below) should be used. Annual crops such as corn, wheat, oats, and soybeans are not suitable because their active growing season is very short and does not coincide when the majority of precipitation for a year occurs.
Some state agencies are very prescriptive with the allowed species and establishment practices for VTA's in their states. You should check the regulations in your state before designing a VTA and establishing vegetation on it.
The following list includes vegetation used in VTA's in the Great Plains region; it is not a comprehensive list:
Brome
Alfalfa
Intermediate wheatgrass
Tall fescue
Orchardgrass
Hybrid wheatgrass
Bermudagrass (eastern climates)
More water-tolerant species include:
Creeping foxtail
Reed canary grass
Eastern gamma grass
Answer developed by:
Chris Henry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
