Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Many home improvement shows are compressed, allowing viewers to see an entire project from beginning to end within a few minutes. The finishing touches usually include planting fully grown shrubs, and adding an instant sod lawn. In the end, the results are nearly always impressive and beautiful, but quite expensive. Homeowners today can get comparable landscaping results using a process called hydroseeding.
This is not a revolutionary new way of growing grass or other ground-cover, but rather an improvement on tried-and-true, natural planting methods. Using fully established sod to create an instant lawn may be appropriate in some cases, but that cover must first be grown. The cost of keeping it weed and pest-free, cutting it into usable strips, and then transporting and installing it is three to four times higher than seeding.
The construction of the Interstate Highway System sparked improvements in this process. Before that time, freeway embankments made barren by construction were difficult to replant, and often fell victim to serious erosion. This new method of spray-planting was far more efficient, mixing mulch, fertilizer and other additives with water, and then using a high-pressure tanker to spray the mixture where needed.
That combination of seed and nutrients usually sprouted within a few days, and the hillsides stabilized. In many cases, steep angles or other problems make hand-seeding virtually impossible, creating uneven results. A liquid mulch mixture replaced the traditional layer of straw designed to retain moisture, and has the built-in advantage of containing no weed seeds to crowd more desirable shoots.
Even more practical for gardeners is the ability to control exactly which types of seed are needed as determined by local micro-climate and the predominant soils. Using a single variety of seed is not always successful in a landscape project due to differences in water retention, topography and sun exposure. Hydromulching can easily switch the type of seed being used when shady spots or heavy traffic demands it.
Although the results are not instant like sod, the new shoots appear very quickly. While more expensive than plain seed, hydro mixtures already contain the optimal growing elements, while adding those necessary extras to hand-seeded areas makes the final costs comparable. Hand seeding sometimes leave gaps, but a liquid mulch often contains a natural dye that illustrates which areas have been properly covered.
The liquid slurry may also include additives intended to prevent rapid evaporation, helping newly dropped seeds cling to barren hillsides. Other additives encourage rapid initial growth, which stops erosion more efficiently. It is not necessary to immediately spray on another layer of fertilizer, because phosphates have already been included to help new roots established themselves.
The end result is a uniformly green, vibrantly healthy patch of grass. Although a little slower than instant sod, plants grown from seed are stable, and do not experience the root shock from transplantation. In the first few weeks watering is necessary daily until new growth is established, and afterward normal care is sufficient. Big savings and good results are making this sowing method increasingly popular with home gardeners.
This is not a revolutionary new way of growing grass or other ground-cover, but rather an improvement on tried-and-true, natural planting methods. Using fully established sod to create an instant lawn may be appropriate in some cases, but that cover must first be grown. The cost of keeping it weed and pest-free, cutting it into usable strips, and then transporting and installing it is three to four times higher than seeding.
The construction of the Interstate Highway System sparked improvements in this process. Before that time, freeway embankments made barren by construction were difficult to replant, and often fell victim to serious erosion. This new method of spray-planting was far more efficient, mixing mulch, fertilizer and other additives with water, and then using a high-pressure tanker to spray the mixture where needed.
That combination of seed and nutrients usually sprouted within a few days, and the hillsides stabilized. In many cases, steep angles or other problems make hand-seeding virtually impossible, creating uneven results. A liquid mulch mixture replaced the traditional layer of straw designed to retain moisture, and has the built-in advantage of containing no weed seeds to crowd more desirable shoots.
Even more practical for gardeners is the ability to control exactly which types of seed are needed as determined by local micro-climate and the predominant soils. Using a single variety of seed is not always successful in a landscape project due to differences in water retention, topography and sun exposure. Hydromulching can easily switch the type of seed being used when shady spots or heavy traffic demands it.
Although the results are not instant like sod, the new shoots appear very quickly. While more expensive than plain seed, hydro mixtures already contain the optimal growing elements, while adding those necessary extras to hand-seeded areas makes the final costs comparable. Hand seeding sometimes leave gaps, but a liquid mulch often contains a natural dye that illustrates which areas have been properly covered.
The liquid slurry may also include additives intended to prevent rapid evaporation, helping newly dropped seeds cling to barren hillsides. Other additives encourage rapid initial growth, which stops erosion more efficiently. It is not necessary to immediately spray on another layer of fertilizer, because phosphates have already been included to help new roots established themselves.
The end result is a uniformly green, vibrantly healthy patch of grass. Although a little slower than instant sod, plants grown from seed are stable, and do not experience the root shock from transplantation. In the first few weeks watering is necessary daily until new growth is established, and afterward normal care is sufficient. Big savings and good results are making this sowing method increasingly popular with home gardeners.
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