NURSERY MATERIALS/TURFGRASSES: Seed Money

Sodding is expensive and labor-intensive. Seeding may be less costly but is susceptible to rainfall washout and spotty growth. That’s why many landscape contractors who are looking to reduce labor costs and customer callbacks associated with lawn installation are turning to hydroseeding.

Because hydroseeding typically requires smaller crew sizes, some contractors say it’s the ideal add-on service for their companies. “It’s a good subsidiary that can get busy from time to time, and for us it’s good filler work,” says Mark Moore, president, Green Earth Landscaping & Design, Hackensack, N.J. “If we’re waiting for materials on a job with some of the smaller crews, then we can go out and do two or three residential hydroseeding jobs and fill the day.”

Moore has joined a growing number of landscape contractors who have added hydroseeding to their services. In recent years, the hydroseeding industry has grown by approximately 10 percent annually, according to Ray Badger, president, Turbo Technologies, Beaver Falls, Pa. That growth could be attributed to increased awareness among contractors of hydroseeding’s benefits and erosion-control regulations.

“I’ve seen a higher frequency of hydroseeding due to Phase II legislation,” says Jeff Clouser, vice president of domestic sales, Finn Corp., Fairfield, Ohio. “We’re seeing more landscape contractors in design/build, irrigation or maintenance that are considering the hydroseeding business because more people are looking to them to abide by Phase II legislation.”

This law, enacted in March of 2003, is an extension of regulations that once only applied to medium- and large-sized construction jobs. The second phase of the Environmental Protection Agency’s program to eliminate pollution runoff now impacts small construction jobs, which include any activities that disturb 1 to 5 acres of soil, according to the EPA. “We’re seeing contractors hydroseed much smaller jobs, whereas before they might have just done a broadcast seed application,” Clouser says.

Hydroseeding is considered ideal by many contractors for erosion control because they can cover these large areas with less labor than other methods, and the sprayed-on mixture that contains the seeds hardens to form a runoff-resistant coating on the soil. “It’s the easiest and most cost-effective way to deal with the problem,” Badger says.

Not only can hydroseeding make contractors’ jobs easier, but it can result in additional profits.

FOR STARTERS. Before purchasing hydroseeding equipment, contractors should determine what type of properties they’ll be seeding and how much work they plan to undertake. There are two types of machines: jet agitation and mechanical agitation hydroseeders. Jet agitation machines are adequate for smaller properties because their tanks typically range from 300 to 750 gallons, whereas mechanical agitation machines can accommodate up to 3,000 gallons of liquid.

A 300-gallon machine can fit into the bed of a full-sized pickup truck but will only cover 3,500 square feet of soil per tank, Clouser says. The smallest-size tank Clouser recommends contractors purchase is 600 gallons because, as they pick up more accounts, contractors often outgrow the smaller machines. “I’ve never had a contractor tell me I sold them too large of a machine,” Clouser says. “I’ve had many say, ‘I wish I had bought the next biggest machine.’ Always anticipate getting more business than what you think you’re going to get because there’s a lot of work out there.”

Contractors should also consider cost. Jet-propelled machines are one-third to one-half the cost of mechanical agitation machines, according to Badger. For instance, a 300-gallon jet agitation hydroseeder costs nearly $4,000 compared with a same-sized jet-agitation machine that costs $9,000 to $11,000, Badger says. Jet agitation machines are also one-third lighter than mechanical agitation hydroseeders, which can make them easier to transport.

However, mechanical agitation machines can handle thicker slurries, and they apply mixes at a heavier rate. A 700-gallon mechanical agitation machine, for example, can mix and spray the same amount of slurry as a 900- to 1,000-gallon jet agitation machine, Clouser says. “More contractors are recognizing the need for paddle-agitation machines because on erosion control, they’re doing a lot of work with wood-fiber mulch or bonded-fiber matrix products, and you need paddle agitation inside the tanks to be able to mix those types of slurries,” he explains.

That’s why Moore says he uses a mechanical agitation machine. “We’re not fans of jet agitation,” he says. “It’s our belief that metal propellers will mix dry bags of wood fiber quicker, more evenly and will reduce clogs and problems.” Moore says he paid $39,000 for a 1,200-gallon mechanical agitation machine with a washout reservoir, which can cover 7,000 to 10,000 square feet per tank. His hydroseeding jobs range from 7,000 to 60,000 square feet.

Long Grove, Ill.-based McGinty Bros. also uses mechanical agitation machines to seed large commercial properties, says company Vice President Jim Safran. The company has four machines – a 3,000-gallon, a 2,500-gallon and two 1,700-gallon hydroseeders, which cost the company $30,000 to $40,000 each, plus another $40,000 to $50,000 for trucks big enough to accommodate the hydroseeders, Safran says. The total cost to set up the machines actually exceeded $100,000 because of additional charges for hose reels, pumps and attachments. The company uses these hydroseeders to cover approximately 3 acres per day.

Clouser notes that contractors’ regional demands could determine what type of hydroseeder they purchase. “In rural Delaware you might have acre properties, whereas in New Jersey you might have quarter-acre properties and in California, you might have 5,000-square-foot-properties, so you have to be conscious of what sized machine is going to suit your needs based on the sized jobs you are going to come across in your area,” he explains.

WATER WORLD. Accommodating the 1,000 to 1,200 gallons of water Moore needs for each tank can be a challenge. Contractors who are considering hydroseeding as an add-on service should investigate available water sources because too much travel between fill-ups can dry up profits. “The killer with hydroseeding is traveling back and forth to a water source and remixing multiple tank loads,” Clouser says. Landscape contractor George Pacheco agrees. “That’s a big issue with jobs,” says Pacheco, owner of Pacheco Bros. Gardening, Hayward, Calif. “I’ve had places where we’ve had a half hour between loading because of where the water sources were located.”

Most contractors can draw their water from public water sources, such as hydrants and ponds or streams. But contractors should know their local and state laws before tapping into any water source because oftentimes acquiring the water requires a permit or fee. “In New Jersey, water rights and regulations are highly regulated, so it’s an issue of doing proper planning upfront of where your water sources are,” Moore says. “We’ll draw from ponds or streams, if available, or we’ll get water meters from the various town water sources.”

Before a job, Moore researches the laws in the district where he’ll be working and, in most cases, will rent a water meter from that municipality. The meter reads how much water the contractor used from the hydrant, and the contractor is then charged a fee. Moore pays a deposit plus 1 cent to 7 cents per gallon. Pacheco says he pays $50 to $200 every two months, depending on how much water he uses. McGinty Bros. pays $4 to $8 per 1,000 gallons of water to use hydrants in the Chicago area, says Safran, who also uses ponds if they’re nearby. “A lot of times we’re working in areas where there happens to be a pond,” Safran explains. “They’re quite popular here in the Chicago area. Finding water is not too difficult. The guys have been here for 20 years and know where it’s available. We also work with developers who will let us use their ponds.”

OFF AND RUNNING. The methods contractors choose to market and price their hydroseeding services may vary, depending on the type of client. Moore services primarily residential clients, so he often markets hydroseeding at properties where he’s completing large construction jobs. “Usually the seeding is at the end of a larger project where the customer has already spent a lot of money on plants and hardscaping,” Moore says.

If the lawn was torn out or damaged from heavy equipment during the construction process, Moore will often recommend to clients that they have their lawns hydroseeded and explain the benefits. “You tell them it’s going to be around $2,000 to hydroseed and $5,800 to sod,” Moore explains. “There’s a financial sway there. And the client is glad to hear, ‘I can give you a great lawn – you’re just going to have to wait a little bit. But we feel that hydroseeding, in the long run, is going to make a better lawn.’”

Moore says he also explains that sodding may provide immediate results, but hydroseeding adapts better to the soil, resulting in a higher-quality lawn. Moore tells customers that with hydroseeding he can select the seeds, so he knows they’re premium products, whereas with sod he doesn’t know what type of seeds were used. “When you buy sod, you’re buying whatever the grower did, and hopefully he picked good seeds,” Moore says. In addition, Moore shows customers before and after pictures of what hydroseeding can accomplish. Beyond this, Moore says he does little additional marketing because hydroseeding only accounts for 3 to 5 percent of his overall business.

Contractors who specialize in commercial hydroseeding may do even lighter marketing. McGinty Bros. is a lawn and tree care company that acquires most of its accounts from landscape contractors who subcontract the work to them. “We just started letting them know that we have a hydroseeder, and slowly but surely we got business,” Safran says. “Ten years ago we had one machine that didn’t go out every day, and now we have four machines, and all four machines are out every day.” The only other marketing the company engages in is advertising in a trade magazine, which costs about $2,000 a year, according to Safran.

Like McGinty Bros., Pacheco says his company services large commercial accounts, mainly athletic fields. He receives much of his work from publicity generated from sponsoring high school sports events. Because Pacheco is servicing such large areas, he usually quotes prices per acre. Pacheco estimates that hydroseeding costs 3 to 4 cents per square foot for labor and materials. Seeds range from 80 cents per pound to $15 or $20 per pound. He also includes fertilizer in the hydroseeding mix, which ranges from $1,800 to $3,000 per acre. Mulch costs about $300 a ton, and Pacheco says he uses approximately 1.5 to 2 tons of mulch per job. Pacheco says he aims for a 30 to 35 percent profit margin on all jobs and that he may add a difficulty factor for hard-to-reach hilly areas.

McGinty Bros. charges 45 to 50 cents per square yard but with a minimum price of $800, Safran says. The company marks up hydroseeding by 50 percent and labor, material and fuel account for the remaining 50 percent. The company runs three-man crews for hydroseeding, and labor costs total about $200 per man-hour, Safran says. On the residential side, Moore says he charges 7 to 9 cents per square foot for a typical job, but prices can go up to 15 cents per square foot. Moore factors in a 15- to 20-percent profit margin, which he says is higher than some other services he provides. “It’s profitable,” he says. “It’s more profitable than maintenance but not as profitable as snow plowing.”