An apparatus and method for inhibiting shoreline erosion by introducing pre-established, self-sustaining, shoreline-tolerant vegetation. The vegetation, which can be sea grass, is allowed under controlled conditions to sprout and take root, or otherwise become fixed, to a biodegradable mat, which can be constructed from brown coir or from some other coir variety. When the vegetation is sufficiently matured to be self-sustaining, the mat is transferred to the shoreline, where in some embodiments it is draped over a naturally occurring or a man-made sand dune. Fertilizer and/or soil can be included with the mat. Bird roosting stakes can be planted with the mat to encourage birds to roost and provide natural fertilization. As the vegetation takes root in the underlying sand, the biodegradable mat slowly degrades and is absorbed non-destructively into the environment, leaving behind firmly established vegetation that provides self-sustaining erosion control without human maintenance.
