Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Why Should You Choose Hydroseeding Over Broadcast Seeding Or Sodding?

By Harold Wood


You might have the most impressive looking house in the neighborhood, but if your lawn is overgrown, patchy, or discolored, it will make the whole place look like an eyesore. Mowing and edging are helpful, but that doesn't address the issue of the grass's color and texture. If you want a truly lush lawn, you have some options. You can put down broadcast seed, install sod, or opt for hydroseeding, which is also called hydromulching. Hydromulching has advantages you should consider.

If you're not familiar with the hydromulching method, you may be surprised to learn that its commercial uses include regrowth of riparian vegetation and regrowth of wilderness regions laid bare by fire. Hydromulch is a slurry. It's comprised mainly of mulch and seed. Landscapers convey it by tank or trailer to prepared sites where it is sprayed over the soil. It's extremely useful for erosion control on hillsides and sloping lawns.

Dry seeding is a method whereby seeds are spread over soil and covered with a straw overlay. In theory this keeps seeds in place and birds from stealing the seeds. What often happens however, is that windy weather picks up the straw and the seed and sends all of it flying. There is a tackifier in hydromulch. This chemical compound works like an adhesive to keep 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.

There are obvious advantages to hydromulching over sodding. Sod is much more expensive, as much as four times higher, than hydromulch. Sod looks great in theory, but hydromulching looks just as good and won't hit you nearly as hard in the pocketbook. One of the problems with sod is that is doesn't always take. If it's not compatible with the soil type, the soil rejects the sod. You can customize hydromulch to be compatible with your soil.

The sod you lay down has had the roots cut off. This can contribute to the soil rejecting the sod. Even if the sod takes, it may not be healthy. Hydromulch germinates the seed, allowing it to take root in the soil even as the blades are shooting up. This results in a much healthier and hardier lawn than one that was sodded.

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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