Garden and lawn owners all over Sydney understands the importance of a healthy and robust lawn. Whether in residential and commercial spaces, grasses play a vital role in the aesthetics and well-being of the green space.
Eventually, your gardening needs may require you to install a new lawn, repair an old one, or enhance your current garden landscape. For any of these, there are two popular methods you can choose in achieving a lush green garden ‒ hydro seeding and basic seeding.
Regardless of the purpose of the seeding process, you’ll have to weigh the benefits and risks of every procedure. Thus, you’ll know whether or not hydro seeding is a better option, or it makes more sense to sow the seeds by hand.
Hence, let us compare and contrast hydro seeding and basic seeding to identify which is the better option.
Hydro Seeding
Hydro seeding uses slurry, which is a combination of water, fertilisers, grass seeds, mulch, and additives. A mechanical pump sprays this mixture through a nozzle, allowing for a uniform distribution around an area.
The fertilisers and additives included in the compound promote germination. However, the job isn’t quite done after spraying since you’ll need to water it for more than three times a day.
On the other hand, a hydro seeding process has downsides to consider when opting for it.
Hydro Seeding Tackifier
One primary component for hydro seeding is glue or tackifier. This makes sure that the separate ingredients stay together after application and don’t wash out. However, the tackifier does not glue the mixture to the ground.
Hence, when a heavy rainstorm occurs, excessive water could penetrate between the compound and the soil. So when enough water builds up, it could wash away the whole mixture in large sheets.
Hydro Seed Agitator
When applying a layer of hydro seed in your lawn, a mechanical or jet agitator continuously mixes the ingredients throughout the entire process. Since the mechanism blends the seeds, mulch, and additives evenly, there is no rhyme or reason about which component ends up above the layer and which one goes to the bottom.
That means there is a good chance for the seeds to germinate when they are pressed firmly against the soil.
However, despite the inconsistency of layers, as long as you prepare the soil well, it will still produce an even growth of lush grass. You have to make sure to till the soil enough to take in enough water without shedding it away.
Basic Seeding
Basic grass seeding, or sowing, involves hand tools from the soil preparation up to the planting process. Similar to hydro seeding, you eliminate any weeds and till the soil by turning it over about eight (8) centimetres deep.
This helps aerate the soil and loosen it up to accept the grass seeds to be planted. Before you can sow the grass seeds, you’ll need to firm the land using a compactor or lawn roller.
Unlike hydro seeding, you’ll have to fertilise the soil manually and make sure that it is moist before sowing the seeds.
Afterwards, you’ll need to sow the seeds by hand and press them firmly into the soil using a rake and a roller. Then, you need to cover it with a layer of straw or any mulch of your choice.
Moreover, many gardeners agree that a straw mulch is way better than a hydro-mulch, as it provides better shade and protection over your grass seeds.
Basic seeding also establishes a uniform layer of fertilisers, grass seeds, and straw mulch ‒ unlike the uniform mixture of a hydro seed where the seeds aren’t firmly pressed onto the soil.
Oh the other hand, basic seeding also has its own share of downsides.
Amount of Work
Every part of the process involves active engagement and serious amounts of work. From tilling the land to fertilising and sowing, you’ll need to bathe under the sun for quite some time before you complete the planting process.
But it doesn’t end in sowing since you’ll need to cover the entire plot with mulch. While that’s fine for small plots of land, it might take some time to cover a vast space.
Time-consuming
Sowing inarguably takes longer to accomplish than hydro seeding. Each step might take an hour, depending on the availability of hand tools and the size of space to cover.
Unlike hydro seeding which only takes up an hour or two to distribute the mixture, basic seeding will take a day or two to accomplish fully. Besides, sowing regular seeds takes longer to produce grass. However, it is far less expensive than hydro seeding.
Is Hydro Seeding Better than Basic Seeding?
We’ve weighed the pros and cons of both techniques. So is hydro seeding actually prove to be better than basic seeding?
It will mainly depend on your requirements. After all, they are mostly the same processes, except for the fact that hydro seeding uses water and additives to scatter and plant the seeds.
You’ll also need to think about your budget. While hydro seeding is a faster and more efficient technique, it might even cost you more because of the equipment rental and labour fees.
For basic seeding, you’ll only need to get your hands on a rake and lawn roller, as well as fertiliser and grass seeds of your choice.
Nevertheless, you’ll still need to have a regular watering routine for your grass seeds in both applications. If you’ve wrapped your head around these factors, it might be easy for you to choose whether to opt for hydro seeding or simply plant the grass seeds by hand.
Conclusion
Choosing between hydro seeding and basic seeding solely depends on your needs. If you’ll be covering a vast piece of land, it would be best to pick hydro seeding.
But if you’re only seeding a small space, say your garden, then using up a bit of energy by sowing will prove to be a better option. Besides, exercising your green thumb and doing it with your family sounds like a great bonding idea.
Finally, how about complementing your lush grass with a profound garden landscape? With the help of Trees Down Under, you can unleash the true beauty of your garden. We are the only partner you’ll need for your commercial and residential garden landscapes.
You can put your trust to us in making your dream garden a reality. Call us now on 0475 463 597, and we’ll respond with a free quote. We are the perfect solution to all your budget-friendly garden and landscaping needs.
