I am planing to use living stakes this spring to expand my native plant base and control erosion. Any one have experance on this?

Yes, accidentally. I decided to use willow shoots to stake my tomatoes. They all took root and dominated the vegetable garden.

Living stakes are stakes cut off a tree or bush and stuck into the ground to start a new plant. Technique limited to certain plants.

Are you asking about propagating, cuttings? At first, it sounded like you wanted live plants as stakes to grow vines on...

No so much for erosion control, but to soak up the wetter parts of the yard.
When we prune certain plants we sometimes place the cuttings into the soil in parts of the yard where the soil is damp. About one in 10 grows. Mostly we do this with Weeping Willow, fig, Crepe/Crape Myrtles.

Iiving stakes are listed by numerous companies on the lnternet. One company list 39 species.Such things as sweet bay , ,sycamore, willows ,red dog wood, sassafras. button bush, cotton wood ,elderberry ,vibernum. If the success rate is only 10% that would make them expensive but if I take them off of my plants I could cover a large area'along streams ,around ponds ,improving habit at very low cost.

Can't you just take a walk in the woods and snip a twig here and there? Zero cost to you. As long as it's not a State Park or Public Park you should be okay. I have even stopped along the roadside and taken a few cuttings. Keep a bottle of water in the car just for that purpose when I take a drive 'out in the county'.

I can vouch for the willows...

If you research propagation, I think you'll find much more info. One would want to research each separate plant because, although the method would be similar for each, the timing may not be. You may find that some are more easily/quickly grown from seeds.

You should be able to find cuttings for free, either by gathering from natural areas as said, or by soliciting them in a proper forum (like on here or in various groups on Facebook.) You can usually find cuttings for only the cost of having the package sent to you.

Gee, I was so confused when I began reading this thread. I'd never heard the term "Living Stakes". I thought you meant using a living tree or other plant as a support for a vining or climbing plant to grow on; then I googled and found this http://www.ernstseed.com/produ... and upon reading realized that I've used this method once or twice over the years and one of my elderly neighbors rooted live shrub and tree cuttings all the time in this manner. I never knew there was an actual name for it.

I have more often heard the term as "live stakes" rather than "living stakes".
Reading the words as living stakes does bring to my mind a living plant used as a support stake.

Forsythias work really well.

There is this:
http://garden.org/ideas/view/s...