Erosion Control Products
Put to the Test

© 2001 Wendy Dager

With erosion control one of the biggest responsibilities facing those in the landscape industry today, S&S Seeds is working to find the right products to stabilize soil and minimize damage from erosion.

Combining Products with Practices

In order to to make sure those products match well with our customers specific needs, S&S has incorporated their use with some of the established Best Management Practices (BMPs) that are currently being applied to the landscape industry. This includes the practice of using hydraulically applied erosion control products.

"While the focus of our study was to compare the various additives," said Paul Albright, "we want our customers to know were familiar with the BMPs required in all aspects of the landscape industry, including storm water runoff management and other erosion control issues."

"By utilizing our own 300-gallon hydroseeder, we were able to test erosion control products on 30 specially designed 1000-square-foot plots at our Carpinteria location."

"We sprayed various levels of protection on the slopes, then evaluated them for their effectiveness and soil-binding capabilities," said Paul. "We tested everything from mulch and binders to polymers, plolyacrylamides, and, finally, Bonded Fiber Matrices."

Man and Mother Nature Work Together

While plants and grasses are generally accepted as the best long-term form of erosion control, the use of soil binding products can be a godsend to landscape contractors, gardeners, and turfgrass managers.

S&S sprayed the 30 test plots with various products in an effort to determine which was most successful in slowing the hazardous effects of erosion.

"All of the spray-on products proved to be effective to some degree," said Paul. "They're certainly better than leaving a slope unprotected, which is often what you see when you drive around a construction site. Still, we believe that there are various levels of protection available in spray-on products, and our testing confirmed that."

S&S's experimentation with erosion was helped along considerably by Mother Nature herself when the test plots received two inches of rain within 36 hours. The natural rainfall was then supplemented by an S&S application of up to 20 inches per hour of artificial rain in order to accelerate the erosion of each of the plots.

After the rigorous water testing, it was discovered that organic binders and tackifiers with paper and wood fiber mulch were an economical way to control erosion. Binders and tackifiers are a good medium to spread and stick seeds to slopes, and will not impede germination.

While they are not designed to offer permanent protection, and only hold the seed in place until root stabilization and leaf growth occur, a positive aspect is that the crust formed by the tackifiers is not too tough for plants to break through with ease.

Next, S&S determined that several linear and cross-linked polyacrylamides, in combination with paper and wood fiber mulch, also displayed significant resistance to the forces of erosion.

"They certainly cover the ground well and offer a good level of protection," said Paul. "They're economical, readily available, and are more erosion-resistant than the organic-based binders. One thing to watch for, though, is that they might affect or delay germination."

And the Winner Is...

Of all of the products tested, Bonded Fiber Matrices (BFMs) were the most durable. Many of the BFMs demonstrated no soil loss whatsoever, even with the extensive rain testing on the S&S plots.

"BFMs create an erosion control blanket," said Paul, "and should be used on sites that are in critical areas. A BFM can be applied over a standard hydroseeding in a two-step approach, getting the vegetation going as well as holding the soil in place for a year, depending on type of soil and the site's climate."

According to S&S Seeds owner, Victor Schaff, "this isn't the first time BFMs have proved their mettle."

"When BFM's came onto the market several years ago, we sprayed them side by side to evaluate how well they held and how they affected seedling growth," said Victor. "With this second, more comprehensive round of tests, we are able to better match a particular project site with our clients needs."

Get more information on Erosion Control Blankets for commercial customers.

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