How Hydroseeding Fits Into Your Plans For Your Property
Trying to get the gorgeous, green yard you've always wanted can be a challenge. There are many approaches, such as putting down new sod, but it's surprising how hard it can be to get new turf to take. In recent years, another solution, hydroseeding, has emerged as a choice for turning difficult spaces into beautiful results. If you're wondering how the process might fit into your plans, here's what you need to know.
What is Hydroseeding?
Traditionally, a new lawn is installed in a series of steps or as parallel rows of sod. Amending soil and slowly seeding it can be a time-consuming process that doesn't guarantee results, and sod can be undermined by many issues, from too dry of weather to too much rain.
Rather than fight with the current conditions on a property, the idea behind hydroseeding is to use a slurry that mixes everything required into a single liquid solution. This means putting mulch, fertilizer, soil amendments and seeds all into one mixture. The mixture is then pumped through a system and sprayed into place. As long as conditions aren't terrible, surface germination will occur and turf should develop.
How Long Does It Take?
If everything went well, grass should appear within 7 days. The lawn should begin to put down deep roots and take within four weeks. One advantage of this approach is that you'll know fairly quickly whether something went wrong, allowing you to take a second stab at it if corrections to the mixture need to be made.
Applications of Hydroseeding
You'll often see hydroseeing chosen for projects that call for covering a large amount of ground quickly. For example, many state transportation departments use it in areas where they've moved large amounts of dirt, such as medians during new highway projects. It's also a great way for home owners to get their properties pointed in the right direction after new construction has been completed or the yard has been aggressively graded.
One of the great appeals of hydroseeding is that it lends itself well to many non-traditional projects outside of the obvious landscaping applications. For example, folks who want to create green walls in urban architectural spaces frequently elect to use hydroseeding in order to keep weight requirements down during the initial installation process. It also makes an excellent choice for anyone who wants to put down a base for a rooftop garden.
