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Why Should You Choose Hydroseeding Over Broadcast Seeding Or Sodding?

By Harold Wood


You can have the most beautiful home on the block, but unless your lawn is immaculate, the house will look unlived in and uncared for. Keeping the lawn mowed and edged will help, but won't solve the problem of the color and texture of the grass. To get a lush lawn, you have several options. You can have it broadcast seeded, put down sod, or opt for hydroseeding, also known as hydromulching. There are a number of advantages to choosing hydromulching over the other two.

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.

Dry seeding can evaporate prematurely. Grass can't grow without moisture. Moisture is part of the hydromulch. It has a coating that protects the seeds against evaporation. Straw isn't nearly as effective at doing the same thing. In addition, straw can drain nitrogen from the soil and allow weeds to grow along with the grass. Hydromulch has wood fiber that adds to the humus composition and strengthens the under layer of your lawn.

There are obvious advantages to choosing hydromulch over sodding. For one thing sod can be as much as four times as expensive as hydromulch. Sod will give your lawn a great look, but hydromulching will compete with it in looks, and leave you with money in your pocket at the same time. Sod that isn't compatible with a soil type will not take. The soil rejects it. Hydromulch can be especially mixed to accommodate most soil types, which reduces the chances of rejection.

The sod you lay down doesn't have roots. This is one of the reasons for the rejection problem. If the sod actually takes, it can still be unhealthy. Hydromulch grows seed the old fashioned way. The moisture germinates the seed as the blades grow skyward. The result is a healthier and hardier lawn than the one with sod.

Hydromulch is much less expensive than sod, but it does cost more than dry seed. If you factor in your time, energy and the expense of fertilizer and straw mulch, the cost of hydromulch is much more competitive. In addition, hydromulch has erosion control built in.

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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