Hydroseeding
ADVANTAGES OF HYDROSEEDING OVER DRY SEEDING
- Hydroseeded lawns germinate faster than dry seeded lawns. The contact of the seed with water will trigger the germination cycle. We often hear of grass up in three to five days.
- Hydroseeding has an attractive green appearance that looks far better than lawns dry seeded and covered with straw mulch.
- Unlike straw that is often used as a protective cover for a newly seeded area, hydroseeding mulch has NO weed seed. Straw is loaded with weed seed.
- Hydroseeding allows the custom tayloring of the proper seed for your job. It is not uncommon to use two or even three seeds custom spraying the right seed for different areas on the lawn or job. Many custom hydroseeding contractors will use one seed for shady areas, one for high traffic areas, and one to make the front lawn a showpiece.
- Hydroseeding mulch adds to the humus content of a lawn as it decomposes. The bacterial action of straw will extract nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes.
ADVANTAGES OF HYDROSEEDING OVER SOD
- Sod is a good solution to the need of an immediate lawn; however, it is expensive. Sod generally costs three to five times more than hydroseeding. Hydroseeding will often produce turf as nice looking as sod within a very short time at a significant cost savings.
- With hydroseeding the new seedlings are grown on your soil. Sod can have a problem with the type of soil on which it is grown. This is called "not taking". If you have ever seen sod that looks like it could be rolled back up years after it was planted, this is sod that did not take.
- With sod the roots are chopped off resulting in a less healthy plant.
- With sod it's important to have it installed by and experienced professional. Sod will shrink over the first month and if not installed properly gaps will open up between the sod rows.
Hydroseeding is the application of water, seed, starter fertilizer, paper mulch, and tackifier all in one. The tackifier helps stabilize the mix once it is dry to prevent washouts during heavy rain.
There is nothing magical about hydroseeding. The application fools the seed into thinking it has already rained because the seed is planted completely saturated with water. The rest is up to Mother Nature. It still takes sun (heat) and water (moisture) along with the consistency of both. Because the seed mixture consists of perennial ryegrass, creeping red fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass, germination can be as quick as 5 days up to 30 days. We use no annual ryegrass in our mix because it dies at the first frost.
Newly seeded lawns require special irrigation. A newly seeded lawn should be watered daily and may need as many as four light waterings in a single day. Keep the seedbed moist, but not saturated, to a depth of 1 to 2 inches until germination occurs (green cast to lawn and seedlings are 1/4 to 1/2 inch tall). Seeding of a new lawn must not be stressed to the point of wilt. Continue with light applications of water 1/8 to 1/4 inches at least once a day.
As seedlings reach 2 inches in height, gradually reduce the frequency of watering and water more deeply. After the lawn has been mowed two to three times, deep infrequent watering is the best.
Do not miss a day of watering with the grass as the plants are germinating and starting to grow. Do not allow the seed bed to dry. Newly seeded grass plants can die quickly if moisture is not present daily.
Morning is the best time to water, even if it is just before sunrise. Afternoon watering is also fine even though more water is lost to evaporation. Late evening is the time to avoid watering a lawn if possible. Why? Hydroseeded lawns watered in the evening tend to stay wet at night. This provides the ideal environment for fungus disease. Young grass plants are vulnerable to certain fungi diseases that can wipe out large areas of young grass overnight.
Weed control is still needed after lawn is mowed at least three times. A good height for cutting grass is 3 - 3 1/2 inches. Weeds have a harder time of growing in taller grass.
ADVANTAGES OF HYDROSEEDING OVER DRY SEEDING
- Hydroseeded lawns germinate faster than dry seeded lawns. The contact of the seed with water will trigger the germination cycle. We often hear of grass up in three to five days.
- Hydroseeding has an attractive green appearance that looks far better than lawns dry seeded and covered with straw mulch.
- Unlike straw that is often used as a protective cover for a newly seeded area, hydroseeding mulch has NO weed seed. Straw is loaded with weed seed.
- Hydroseeding allows the custom tayloring of the proper seed for your job. It is not uncommon to use two or even three seeds custom spraying the right seed for different areas on the lawn or job. Many custom hydroseeding contractors will use one seed for shady areas, one for high traffic areas, and one to make the front lawn a showpiece.
- Hydroseeding mulch adds to the humus content of a lawn as it decomposes. The bacterial action of straw will extract nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes.
ADVANTAGES OF HYDROSEEDING OVER SOD
- Sod is a good solution to the need of an immediate lawn; however, it is expensive. Sod generally costs three to five times more than hydroseeding. Hydroseeding will often produce turf as nice looking as sod within a very short time at a significant cost savings.
- With hydroseeding the new seedlings are grown on your soil. Sod can have a problem with the type of soil on which it is grown. This is called "not taking". If you have ever seen sod that looks like it could be rolled back up years after it was planted, this is sod that did not take.
- With sod the roots are chopped off resulting in a less healthy plant.
- With sod it's important to have it installed by and experienced professional. Sod will shrink over the first month and if not installed properly gaps will open up between the sod rows.
Hydroseeding is the application of water, seed, starter fertilizer, paper mulch, and tackifier all in one. The tackifier helps stabilize the mix once it is dry to prevent washouts during heavy rain.
There is nothing magical about hydroseeding. The application fools the seed into thinking it has already rained because the seed is planted completely saturated with water. The rest is up to Mother Nature. It still takes sun (heat) and water (moisture) along with the consistency of both. Because the seed mixture consists of perennial ryegrass, creeping red fescue, and Kentucky bluegrass, germination can be as quick as 5 days up to 30 days. We use no annual ryegrass in our mix because it dies at the first frost.
Newly seeded lawns require special irrigation. A newly seeded lawn should be watered daily and may need as many as four light waterings in a single day. Keep the seedbed moist, but not saturated, to a depth of 1 to 2 inches until germination occurs (green cast to lawn and seedlings are 1/4 to 1/2 inch tall). Seeding of a new lawn must not be stressed to the point of wilt. Continue with light applications of water 1/8 to 1/4 inches at least once a day.
As seedlings reach 2 inches in height, gradually reduce the frequency of watering and water more deeply. After the lawn has been mowed two to three times, deep infrequent watering is the best.
Do not miss a day of watering with the grass as the plants are germinating and starting to grow. Do not allow the seed bed to dry. Newly seeded grass plants can die quickly if moisture is not present daily.
Morning is the best time to water, even if it is just before sunrise. Afternoon watering is also fine even though more water is lost to evaporation. Late evening is the time to avoid watering a lawn if possible. Why? Hydroseeded lawns watered in the evening tend to stay wet at night. This provides the ideal environment for fungus disease. Young grass plants are vulnerable to certain fungi diseases that can wipe out large areas of young grass overnight.
Weed control is still needed after lawn is mowed at least three times. A good height for cutting grass is 3 - 3 1/2 inches. Weeds have a harder time of growing in taller grass.