Saturday, August 11, 2018

Why Choose Hydroseeding Over Broadcast Or Sod?

By Harold Wood


No matter how great a house you have, no one will notice if the lawn is devoid of grass, full of weeds, or unkempt. Meticulous edging and mowing will improve the look, but they aren't the solution to substandard color and texture. You may have to start from scratch by broadcast seeding, sodding, or hydroseeding, also called hydromulching. Choosing hydromulch has advantages you should be aware of.

You might be interested to know that hydromulching is used to regrow wilderness vegetation after a fire and will regrow riparian vegetation. Hydromulch is actually a slurry of seed and mulch that is transported by tanks or trailers and sprayed over ground that has been prepared for it. Hydromulching is used for erosion control by construction crews. It is extremely effective for homes with sloping lawns and hillsides.

Dry seeding is a technique in which seeds are spread and covered with a straw overlay. The straw is supposed to keep seed from becoming dislodged or eaten by birds. This is fine unless a strong wind comes along and blows straw and seed skyward. Hydromulch, on the other hand, contains a tackifier that will act like glue to hold the slurry in place.

Broadcast seeding may evaporate before it has a chance to take hold. Grass won't grow unless it has moisture. Moisture is a component of hydromulch. There is coating that protects seeds from evaporating. Straw is relatively ineffective at the same thing. Straw can also drain nitrogen from soil. It encourages the growth of weeds along with grass. The wood fibers hydromulch contains contributes to the humus composition strengthening the lawn's under layer.

Hydromulching has obvious advantages over sod. Sodding a yard can be up to four times more expensive than hydromulching. Sod certainly looks great, but hydromulching can compete with it in the looks department and save your pocketbook at the same time. If sod isn't compatible with your soils, it won't take. The soil will reject it. Hydromulch can be mixed to complement your soil, making rejection much less likely.

The sod you lay down doesn't have roots. This is one of the reasons for the rejection problem. If the sod actually takes, it can still be unhealthy. Hydromulch grows seed the old fashioned way. The moisture germinates the seed as the blades grow skyward. The result is a healthier and hardier lawn than the one with sod.

Hydromulching is significantly less expensive than sodding, but is more expensive than broadcast seed. When you factor in time, aggravation, and energy, as well as the cost of straw mulch and fertilizer the cost of hydromulching is much more competitive. Hydromulch also inhibits erosion.

A beautiful lawn, although time consuming and expensive to maintain, is well worth the effort. Finding the best product for the best price is the most effective way to do it. When you consider the benefits of hydromulch over its competitors, you will see it comes out way ahead.




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