Hydroseeding Produces Healthy And Fast-Growing Lawns

| Wednesday, June 25, 2014
By Elsa English


Popular home improvement shows compress the time it takes to finish a project, giving viewers a speedy vision of the transformation from start to finish. Not only does the home undergo a makeover, but the grounds are also improved by planting fully grown plants and shrubs, as well as an instant sod lawn. The finished product is always beautiful but expensive, and many owners achieve a comparable look with hydroseeding.

Rather than a being a radical innovation, this process is the modern version of a tried-and-true natural approach. While it may be necessary or appropriate in some cases to install sod, there are hidden costs. It must first be planted and raised on a specialized farm, kept pest and weed-free, cut into strips at the last moment, and then moved and placed. The end cost is three to five times greater than growing grass on site.

Commercial uses of this process began over half a century ago in the United States with the construction of the Interstate Highway System. Prior to that era, it was difficult to contain hillsides that had been stripped of vegetation during construction, and the new method of spraying seed helped solve the erosion problem. The concept is fairly simple, mixing various seeds, mulch, additives and fertilizer with water, which is piped into a tanker truck.

On site, the truck sprays this soupy mixture wherever needed, and within two weeks new seedlings are sprouting. Coverage is improved, because many areas make comprehensive hand-seeding difficult or impossible. The mulch mixture helps retain natural moisture better than traditional straw, and has the additional advantage of containing no weeds that sometimes sprout along with the grass.

The liquid mixture is easily tailored to local conditions, including the micro-climate and predominant soil. Due to natural variations in topography and native vegetation, a single variety of grass seed may not thrive over an entire patch of lawn. Hydromulching can combine or even switch the varieties of grass being planted, eliminating annoying barren patches in areas of high sun or shade.

New shoots sprout rapidly, and while there is no sod-inspired instant gratification for gardeners, the watery mixture is already infused with the elements needed for rapid, healthy growth, unlike patches of manually planted ground which may need fertilizer. It is easy to leave inadvertent gaps when seeding by hand, but the organic dye used in water-based methods eliminates missed spots.

Mulch slurry may also contain special additives designed to help newly-sown seeds cling to hillsides more effectively by preventing excess evaporation. Other additives may include additional moisture-retaining chemicals, or specially formulated stimulants to encourage rapid growth. Most also mix in more traditional fertilizers such as phosphorus to encourage rapid development of root networks.

In most cases, the end product is a vibrantly green, attractive new lawn. While the process is slower than placing layers of sod, these new plants do not have to re-grow roots cut during transplantation, and usually remain healthier for a longer period of time. During the first new shoots require water daily, followed by normal lawn care procedures. For homeowners, this is a result worth the wait.




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