Application Spotlight: Hydroseeding for Commercial Landscaping

Hydroseeding is the process of quickly applying a uniform mixture of fertilizer, mulch, seeds, and water—referred to as slurry—over a large area of ground. This combination of materials helps ensure consistent and uniform grass or plant growth in areas that can otherwise be difficult to reach and seed. The hydroseeding process is also particularly applicable for projects where large areas need to be seeded in a short time, and with a relatively small crew of people. 

For commercial purposes, hydroseeding can be used to cover highway construction embankments and disturbed areas quickly to stabilize slopes and help reduce erosion and runoff in the areas impacted by construction activity. Modern urban areas, industrial sites, commercial development projects, business parks, new housing developments, shopping centers, athletic fields, and even large residential properties can all benefit from the added efficiency and professional-looking results hydroseeding delivers. 

Commercial Landscaping Needs

Hydroseeding for commercial landscaping can be an effective and efficient method of seeding for a variety of landscaping projects. Whether you’re looking to enhance the aesthetics of a construction or development project, or you need to quickly stabilize large areas under development, hydroseeding can help you achieve both goals with relatively little overhead and person-power. 

Impact of Landscaping for Commercial Properties

Landscaping plays a crucial role in how commercial properties function and appear, from their initial development to their continued performance for years to come. The most notable of these benefits of commercial landscaping is simply how appealing your property looks.

An area’s general appeal can be enhanced and supported with the addition of intentional, well-kept green spaces provided by hydroseeding. In real estate applications especially, commercial landscaping can shape curb appeal, enticing more potential buyers and visitors to the property. This kind of proactive maintenance and attention can also help ensure the property retains not only its looks, but its function as well. 

Challenges and Requirements for Maintaining Commercial Landscapes

Hydroseeding can help address several of the challenges commercial landscapers face. For example, landscaping on sloped areas is notoriously difficult, and one of the primary reasons landscape contractors are called in. With hydroseeding, even tough-to-reach slopes become accessible to a uniform seed mixture, with tackifiers and mulch added as needed to help support soil stability on the slope. 

Preventing issues with irrigation, erosion, and runoff is another primary concern for landscapers, as these issues can be costly both in terms of capital and natural resources. Hydroseeding can help prevent erosion and soil runoff in areas that may be susceptible to these issues.

With the ability to apply water-retaining mulches, erosion socks, and plants that retain water and stabilize the soil, hydroseeding can help contractors meet regulations while maintaining a desired look and appeal of the landscaped area.  

In addition, hydroseeding for commercial landscapes is a great way to reduce the maintenance costs of landscaping. Known for its high efficiency, hydroseeding is a quick, relatively low-overhead method to get uniform plant growth in a variety of spaces. Hydroseeded areas retain water well, reduce invasive weed species with selective herbicides and quickly develop robust root systems, all reducing the maintenance costs of the landscaped area.

Demand for Efficient and Cost-effective Landscaping Solutions

As the market grows tighter and margins slimmer for nearly all kinds of contractors, commercial landscapers can also be feeling the heat. Whether it’s reducing costs, overhead, or both — solutions to stretch the efficiency and effectiveness of landscaping strategies are becoming more and more desirable. 

Hydroseeding commercial development projects quite simply allow you to do more with less. A small crew can apply and maintain hydroseeded areas, fewer raw materials are needed to hydroseed versus other methods of seeding, and the result is typically more uniform. With an eye toward sustainable landscaping strategies, hydroseeding can help prevent water loss with absorbent mulches, and can reduce water needs from the get go by allowing you to quickly plant water-retaining, drought-resistant plants more easily.  

Hydroseeding Applications for Commercial Landscaping Projects

Hydroseeding is used effectively in a variety of commercial landscape applications, from large areas of turf to more structured landscape designs with natural elements. It can also be used to support various landscaping goals, from reducing erosion to adding turf in inaccessible areas.

Erosion Control and Slope Stabilization

Erosion is every landscaper’s headache, and its results can be disastrous if not properly, and proactively, addressed. Even relatively flat areas can be subject to erosion’s damaging effects. Water erosion and runoff can result from improper irrigation, too much water or rainfall, or poorly designed green spaces. Erosion can degrade the soil over time, making it difficult to grow any type of plant.  

As a result, it’s crucial to identify any areas of existing or potential erosion, so contractors can design a plan to reduce it and better manage runoff. Hydroseeding can play a pivotal role in erosion control and soil stability, as it can apply moisture-retaining mulches and seeds quickly and easily. 

Installing Grass

For large areas of turf and grass, there’s no more quick and reliable method to apply seed than hydroseeding. It’s especially cost-effective over large areas and large grass projects like many commercial landscaper’s projects. Seeds can be applied quickly and uniformly, and to the specifications of the project for different purposes such as aesthetics, drought resistance, and more. 

Planting Wildflowers or Groundcovers

Similar to its efficiency with grass seeding, hydroseeding can be easily adapted to plant crops that can help support soil stability and resiliency. Crops like ground covers and wildflowers can be used in marginal spaces near highways and construction projects to not only help the area look nicer, but also function more soundly as these crops can be chosen for their moisture retention and soil stabilizing properties. 

Sprigging trees and shrubs

In addition to ground covers and wildflowers, hydroseeding can also be adapted to plant small trees and shrubs. In a process called hydrosprigging, the hydroseeder is modified to plant these small plants quickly and easily in much the same way it would seeds. This process can be especially beneficial for areas that require long-term erosion control and soil stabilization, as the root systems of these larger plants can do more heavy lifting when it comes to reducing runoff and soil degradation. 

Benefits of Hydroseeding for Large-Scale Landscaping Projects

If you’re looking for methods to reduce the cost of large-scale landscaping, investing in hydroseeding can provide a variety of benefits: 

Efficiency

Hydroseeding provides significant advantages over traditional seeding techniques, from reducing the labor required to minimizing maintenance costs. Hydroseeding can be done by a team of a few people and can cover large areas in as little time as a few hours. 

Fertilizers and tackifiers in the slurry also ensure that the seeds have the necessary nutrients for robust growth right from the start and that they stay in place for uniform, even growth that looks great, with less effort.

Cost Effectiveness & ROI

Depending on the size of your hydroseeding projects and the investment in your hydroseeder, it may only take a few jobs to pay for the equipment. Renting hydroseeding equipment may also be an economic option if buying or leasing equipment outright isn’t an option for your business yet. 

Reduce Water Usage

The mulch used in the hydroseed slurry helps retain moisture, providing an ideal environment for seed germination and growth. This aspect is particularly beneficial in large-scale projects where efficient water use is crucial to keeping costs manageable. 

Minimize Weed Competition

Hydroseeding’s unique, effective method of planting with a slurry means you can plant effectively and ensure that the seeds have the necessary nutrients for robust growth right from the start. This not only means you’ll get uniform, great-looking results, it also makes it difficult for weeds to establish and reduces the need for frequent weeding and herbicide application.

Especially with the right ground preparation, hydroseeding can be used to virtually eliminate weed competition over a large landscaped area. 

Lower Maintenance Landscaping

Hydroseeding can be effectively customized to specific soil types and local climates, which can promote the growth of grasses and plants that are naturally more resilient and require less upkeep.

Not only do these methods result in great-looking, lower-maintenance landscaping, they also help reduce water consumption and further increase landscape efficiency and performance. 

Hydroseeding is Great for Commercial Landscaping 

From reducing costs, enhancing curb appeal, and helping support soil health and resiliency, hydroseeding can be applied at almost any level of commercial landscaping projects with dependable, professional-looking results. 

For more details on how hydroseeding can help your commercial landscaping projects, reach out to our pros today!