Hydromulching is catching on in Southeast Missouri

During the past couple of years you may have been driving around new sections of town and seen a recently graded lawn area that has a greenish-silver look to it. This is not a fungus that is spreading over the neighborhood, nor is it a quick paint job that colors brown soil. What you are seeing is the result of a lawn that has recently been seeded by a method called hydromulching.

Although hydromulching is just now catching on in Southeast Missouri, it is a method of seeding that has been around for at least 40 years.

Whether you seed your lawn by the traditional method or by hydromulching, the soil has to be cultivated the same way. The seed bed is prepared by a combination of tilling, grading and pulverizing.

In the traditional method of seeding, seed is broadcast over the area first. In addition to seed, soil amendments such as lime, fertilizer and gypsum may also be broadcast in separate applications. The next step is to work the seed and amendments into the soil by a pulverizer or harrow.

Finally straw is blown over the area. Straw is used to help hold moisture in the soil, and also helps to control erosion on sloped areas.

As you can see from the above description, several different applications of several different materials are made over the area to be seeded. Hydromulching combines all of these applications into one.

A hydromulcher is essentially a large tank (300 to 3,000 gallons) that is filled with water (thus the term hydro). Into the water is poured grass seed, lime, gypsum mulch and a tacking agent. All of the mish-mash of material is mixed up and then pumped through a large hose and sprayed over the area to be seeded. A lot of labor time is saved because only one application is made over the area.

Another advantage of hydromulching is that grass seed has already started to germinate when it leaves the hydromulcher. When grass seed comes in contact with water, water is imbibed (taken into) in seed and the process of germination begins.

Mulch used in the hydromulching process is usually made of virgin fibers from pine, spruce or fir. These fibers are produced from wood in a manner similar to that used to make pulp for paper mills. This fiber is then dried.

After the fiber has dried, it is coated with a greenish-silver dye. This "painted mulch" gives the lawn a finished look after application. The dye also provides a way for the person making the hydromulch application to see how thick or thin the application is being made over the area.

Some mulches are made from recycled fibers such as that found in newsprint. These too are dried and coated with dye. Of course the recycling aspect is a great advantage for this mulch.

As mentioned earlier, a tacking agent is usually added to the hydromulch mixture. This material acts as a glue to hold the mulch in place over the soil and reduce the chance of erosion. You have no straw blowing everywhere in the neighborhood.

Unfortunately a hydromulcher is an expensive piece of machinery. If you are going to do some seeding yourself, you will have to proceed by the old tried and true method of making separate applications of seed, fertilizer, lime, and gypsum and then spreading straw.

If on the other hand you are going to hire someone to seed your lawn, think about finding a hydromulching contractor. There are certainly some advantages to having your lawn hydromulched.

Send your gardening and landscape questions to Paul Schnare at P.O. Box 699; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0699 or by e-mail to news@semissourian.com.