Planting a new seed

Turf Pro Landscape Design President Brian Irwin is optimistic that this spring will be a busy one for his company. East of Dallas, many homeowners’ lawns in this region didn’t survive last year’s drought.

The jobs are starting to come in, and these new customers are interested in the option of having their new lawn installed by hydroseeding.

Up until three years ago, Irwin would hire a subcontractor to hydroseed lawns for his company. Eventually, Irwin decided to purchase the necessary equipment and offer the service in house.

The hydroseeding market is varied, though. In California, government mandated emissions standards add to the overhead cost of running and transporting the equipment. The cost of hydroseeding isn’t competitive in comparison to the traditional method of seeding a lawn or other space.

In central Ohio, sod is a local cash crop, so the price of having it installed is in line with the cost of hydroseeding. “It comes down to educating the customer,” says Chris Pence of Penlin Seeding in Lockbourne, Ohio. “Don’t promise miracles and do inform the client of environmental factors.”

Why not Sod? Sod installation has some issues of its own. The soil the sod is grown in may not always be compatible with the soil on the job site where it is being installed. This may result in the sod not taking root in the space and eventually dying.

This is a risk for the contractor in guaranteeing his product.

Weed seed is another issue in the traditional hand seeding method of turf installation. The straw used for mulching may contain weed seed and they will grow in the landscape, competing with the grass seed.
 

How it works. Hydroseeding has many benefits that will appeal to potential customers. The seed, fertilizer, mulch and water are mixed to a slurry.

It is then sprayed onto the prepared soil. This method reduces the more labor intensive method of dry seeding by hand, then applying fertilizer, followed by spreading straw.

This also minimizes foot and equipment traffic on the site being seeded, reducing the issues caused by soil compaction. Custom grass seed mixes can be created for your customers if their property has mixed uses.

It also is an efficient method for adding soil amendments and biostimulants. For example, the mulch used in the slurry may contain humus to add organic matter into the soil providing nutrients for the seedlings.

Straw mulch is slower to decompose and will steal nitrogen from the soil. Other components in the slurry may be added to allow the seed and mulch to adhere to the soil surface better, thereby reducing the effects of erosion.

The water in the slurry stimulates seed growth. A space that is hydroseeded may start to germinate in as little as three days.

Farm it out. If equipment is too expensive, consider subcontracting this work out initially to see if there is enough demand from your brand to justify the investment.

You can find sub-contractors through The International Association of Hydroseeding Professional search engine.

If you do find the demand for the service and success that Irwin and Turf Pro Landscape Design achieved, remember this, he says, – “Know your numbers and weigh the value of this service versus the traditional method of installing a lawn.”

The author is an intern at Lawn & Landscape.

For more on purchasing hydroseeding equipment, visit our website www.lawnandlandscape.com and search “hydroseed.”