[rtwalley]

I had a new septic system installed in November, 2003. The contract called for hydroseeding in Spring of 2004 - but it was not done until November,2004!
The system alarm needed to be replaced due to an electrical problem (defective).

The fall rains washed most of it away, and
it didn't take. I have planted seed on my own with fine results; I plant fescue in zone 5. Always had good luck with this.

The hydroseeding from last fall is terrible!
Very, very little is coming up and nothing is on the slope away from the mound.

How should a homeowner pursue this problem? I enjoy working in the yard, but expected something to work with over the summer months. I know it's better to seed in the fall, but can't do it - we've been here just over a year now and like the idea of being able to use the yard.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to remedy the problem? The Conservation ommission will not o.k. removal of hay bales" until the soil has vegetation growing". WE LIKE GRASS!
SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME
rtw

[turfdude]

You may have to bite the bullet & go with sod. Check out the thread re: the evils of spring seeding. Problems w/ no good crab pre-M (tupersan not real effective, yet very expensive), cooler soil temps=longer germination time, lots of weed competition, may not become substantial enough to get through summer stress, etc....

[Stonehenge]

I'm going to move this thread over to our new Homeowner Help forum.

[Stonehenge]

We often get asked by prospective clients "what happens if rain washes out all our seed?"

While I know the answer they want to hear, the answer I most want to give is "Then all your seed is washed out and you'll have to hire us again to seed it."

Instead, my standard reply is, if we seed your lawn and a downpour washes away large portions of your seed, it's not your fault. But it's not our fault, either. Our price includes seeding your lawn one time, and taking reasonable steps to ensure the seed stays put until it germinates. If you have small patches that wash out, we'll likely fix them at no charge, but know that is money coming out of our pocket.

Sometimes I'll include information like how much it costs us to load and truck men and equipment to a home, and the materials to reseed a portion of the lawn, even if we're just laying down new seed ($500-800), and that we can't give that away on thin-margin work like lawn seedings and still remain in business.

I mention all of this because I'm not sure if you have an expectation of remedy by the company doing the lawn seeding, and if you do, you might benefit from the perspective of another company that does that kind of work.

As for the issue at hand and what you can do for the sloped areas, sod with turf staples would work, as would seeding and covering with an erosion control blanket like Curlex. For the rest of the yard you might consider renting a slit-seeder to overseed the areas in need of help.

Hope that helps.

[Paul]

My question is, if seeded in November 04 and not knowing what the temps are there at that time but assuming they are close to us as far as zone 5, I wouldn't expect to see much seed grown during the winter months. And as of right now it's still too cold as far as ground temps.

[GLAN]

Yeah..........you would be to cold right now.......but that doesn't mean within weeks you couldn't seed.

Fall seeding.....spring seeding..... I like spring seeding.....cause it will allow me time to fix and seed again areas that didn't take.....or was washed from water run off or what ever the reason as to why a spot or certain location did not perform well and allow the grass to grow and develope a root system by the time winter comes along.

Try doing that in fall.....If I was to seed early september........it may not be untill end of Sept or early October when I get back in to touch up seed where necessary........by mid October I am getting leaf drop........leaves left a week in newly germinated seed will wreak havoc and cause failure........so I am spot seeding in spring again anyway...

[scl]

The one thing i missed here is have you contacted your contractor? have had cases before where customers have fixed or had fixed problems, perceived or real, without contacting me first. Most contractors, myself included, will do everything reasonable, and sometimes unreasonable, to rectify these situations. Couldn't hurt to give them a try. Otherwise, as Paul said, its way early for new growth, and washouts do happen. Think of them as the sacrificial anode of your new lawn.

[site]

Rt don't be surpised if that seed starts to germinate in a couple of weeks. Unless it all washed away or got eaten by birds a good portion of it will grow. I would wait until all the seed that is going to germinate has done so. That should be about a month from now. So on May 7th or therabouts head down to the local rental center and pick up a slice seeder. Then go to somewhere that sells seed and has good customer service and figure out which seed you want. Run the slice seeder over the whole deal , then apply starter fertilizer.
You will probably have a tough time with weeds. That's the downfall of spring seeding. You will get a good stand of green vegitation going. A lot of that vegitation might be weeds, but it will help you get rid of your hay bales. If there are too many weeds you can start over at the end of August. Good luck.

[GLAN]

If weeds germinate.......not like you can't spray them some 6 weeks after seeding.

We begin our spring spraying anywhere from 2 - 6 weeks after they were seeded.

[dirigo]

Newbie here. I'm considering having my front yard completely redone ... approximately 8000-10000 square feet. It has gentle rises and falls and some flat areas, but not many. The slop is not bad IMHO, but I have seen areas where the water naturally gravitates to and does a good imitation of a fast raging river. Of course, please keep in mind I live in GA ... we get plenty of rain overall, but unfortunately we can get some torrential rains at times. All indications (at least from the marketing stuff I've read on the web) are from a price perspective, the "hydro" process would give me more bang for my dollars. Sod would kill my budget and force me to do a three year phased in approach ... not a good way to go. Is there a generic rule of thumb of cost estimation between, for example, a square foot of Bermuda sod and a square foot of Bermuda hydroseed/mulch?

Come to think of it, what types of grass seeds are applicable by this means? Originally I thought only fescue, but a fellow told me Bermuda was available too. Evidently zoysia isn't available as I haven't found anything yet to indicate such. What about centipede? St. Augustine? I'm probably leaning toward Bermuda, but do like the looks of Zoysia. Is there a special blend used for football fields? If so, what might that be? Heck, I could have a rough good football game in the front yard!

I have a few questions here re: hydroseeding/hydromulching. From googling on the web, I understand the two terms are used synonymously, but yet are actually two slightly different processes. One described hydroseeding as basically laying down seed in a slurry - slightly thick application, while hydromulching actually entails more additional ingredients to the slurry ... meaning wood fibers or whatever else is added ... to make it thicker and not so inclined to "slide and glide". I think it was referred to as some sort of "tacking" type ingredient. First question: do I understand this correctly?

Assuming a hydroseeding/hydromulching application is done correctly, what expectations should a homeowner have in terms of thickness, lushness? I do have an irrigation system in place.

Also, I read a reference to so-called "premium hyrdomulching" (on a hydro equipment web site). If I interpreted that correctly ... that represents the thicker, more ingredient product that would be applied to the lawn area. Problem is ... would I be able to tell I really got what I thought I might be paying for? Is there a difference in application thickness and height?

Are there any tips you possibly could share with me as to what to ask a contractor so that I get a very warm fuzzy I'm getting what I will be about to pay for?

Well, sorry to be so long winded here. My best to you all and thanks in advance for any suggestions, comments, criticisms ...

TTYL,

dirigo

[Stonehenge]

Dirigo, my first suggestion would be to reconsider the lawn re-do. See if there are things that can be done to your existing lawn to turn it into what you'd like to have - it'll be less costly, and will most likely take less time on your part in watering and general care to get it to where you want.

As for the definition difference - we use tackifier and a man-made fiber (trade name hy-net) in our tanks. We'd use wood fiber but our machine type can't handle it without getting clogged - but others do. Those that use wood say that they can get better water retention and erosion control with wood fiber.

As with anything, judge the contractor by results - get references and check them. That's the best test.

[dirigo]

Thanks for your comments Stonehenge ... appreciate them.

Yeah, I 'm always interested in saving money, but unfortunately I have to depend on others to do the actual labor nowadays versus me doing it. My health and mobility is poor and getting worse, so ... I don't have much choice at the moment.

"Tackifier" was the word I was trying to think of yesterday, but it sliipped my mind. Very interesting re: man-made fiber vs. wood fiber. Good info.

I thoroughly enjoy reading this forum and I just found it yesterday ... good people, good advice IMHO. Good luck to you all. Take care. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions!!!