In urbanized area, riverbanks are submitted to strong anthropic pressures, with embankments and erosion protection works. Unlike civil engineering, soil bioengineering techniques use the mechanical property of vegetation to control bank erosion and fulfill both safety and some major ecological functions of riverbanks. These soil bioengineering techniques mostly rely on the implementation of living vegetation such as plantings and live staking, and their erosion control efficiency is strongly related to vegetation survival and development. The success of planting is highly variable and the success factors have not attracted much scientific attention. In this study we studied the importance of plant characteristics and environmental factors on plant survival and growth. In The City of Calgary in 2018 and 2019, 70 soil bioengineering works were sampled; they ranged from simple revegetation operations with live staking and plantings through complex construction mixing several bioengineering techniques or mixing riprap and soil bioengineering techniques. In each soil bioengineering technique from each work, survivorship, health, vigour and growth traits vegetation were recorded and linked to different environmental factors such as aspect, presence of fences. There was a significant higher survival of plantings over cuttings, and differences of survivorship between cutting species. Fences had an effect on planting survival and growth. The effect of soil fertilization, shade and aspect were less obvious. The drought conditions in Calgary give ab advantage to plantings over cuttings, and the implementation of accompanying measures to foster plant survival and growth such as fences or irrigation are essential.