Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project

   / Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project #1  

BamaB99

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Building a new home now and I have a semi-muddy mess around the house. I am planning on sodding 20 feet around the house in all directions and then seeding the 1.5 acres in front and behind the house. Right now it痴 seeded with rye and oats that have done decently well.

I知 looking for a more permanent option going into the summer? I have pretty acidic soil as of now so considering centipede sod around the house and then brown top millet / bahia or bermuda in acreage in front and back of that after I disc. Open to suggestions. I知 mainly concerned with erosion and mud control at this point.
 
   / Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project #2  
Building a new home now and I have a semi-muddy mess around the house. I am planning on sodding 20 feet around the house in all directions and then seeding the 1.5 acres in front and behind the house. Right now itç—´ seeded with rye and oats that have done decently well.

I知 looking for a more permanent option going into the summer? I have pretty acidic soil as of now so considering centipede sod around the house and then brown top millet / bahia or bermuda in acreage in front and back of that after I disc. Open to suggestions. I知 mainly concerned with erosion and mud control at this point.

My local CoOp has a seed mix for erosion control called Forest Service Mix. I’ve used that with good results. You don’t say your location but if it’s mud now it’s fairly mild. In that case I’d Hydroseed.
 
   / Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project #3  
Do a soil test and follow it. Its likely to say Lime, so buy AG Lime in bulk it the least expensive way.
 
   / Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project
  • Thread Starter
#4  
Do a soil test and follow it. Its likely to say Lime, so buy AG Lime in bulk it the least expensive way.

I already have soil results. I知 trying to get some cover down to keep mud, erosion at bay.
 
   / Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project #5  
Building a new home now and I have a semi-muddy mess around the house. I am planning on sodding 20 feet around the house in all directions and then seeding the 1.5 acres in front and behind the house. Right now itç—´ seeded with rye and oats that have done decently well.

I知 looking for a more permanent option going into the summer? I have pretty acidic soil as of now so considering centipede sod around the house and then brown top millet / bahia or bermuda in acreage in front and back of that after I disc. Open to suggestions. I知 mainly concerned with erosion and mud control at this point.

If you are using centipede and bermuda, you are in the south. For immediate results, annual rye will come up fast then die out, so add some perennial rye till your other southern grass mixes get established. We spent 25 years in SC, it is not grass friendly weather there.
 
   / Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project
  • Thread Starter
#6  
If you are using centipede and bermuda, you are in the south. For immediate results, annual rye will come up fast then die out, so add some perennial rye till your other southern grass mixes get established. We spent 25 years in SC, it is not grass friendly weather there.

I looked at the make up of several DOT mixes. I believe I知 going to do a 50 percent brown top, 25 Bahia, 25 Bermuda mix after i grade with topsoil away from house. I知 going to skip the sod and seed / hay around house perimeter. Sound ok? I知 in south AL .
 
   / Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project #7  
Assuming the Bama name means that you are in Alabama, and that you have red clay soil because you said acidic soil, I'm going to also assume your conditions are similar to mine here in East Texas.

Coastal Bermuda is the most common grass in homes and pastures because it grows really well, doesn't need to be watered to make it through summer and it remains green the longest as we cool off for winter. Its easy to mow and it's nice to look at.

Bahia is something that you want to avoid at all costs. People spend a lot of money trying to kill off bahia. It's a native grass that does really well, but it grows in clumps and it has stalks that look horrible and wear out mower blades quickly.

Centipede looks nice, rarely needs mowing and it turns brown at the first hint of cool weather.

Sainte Augustine and Coastal Bermuda are the two most common sod grasses that I'm aware of. Sainte Augustine is a very nice grass that does well in shady areas, but it needs more water then Bermuda and it's more temperamental in soil conditions. If you can get it going, it's something to be proud of. I personally think the blades are too thick for my liking, but from a distance, it is very nice to look at.

If you seed with Coastal Bermuda, be sure to look at the label. It's a very small seed and if you buy it at Home Depot or Lowes, it will be about 25% seed and the rest is filler. Do the math and figure out what you are paying per pound. Also figure out how many pounds you need per acre. The last time I looked, I want to say it was ten pounds per acre of pure seed. Figure the store sells a ten pound bag for $50 that's really 2 1/2 pounds, so you need 4 bags to get ten pounds of seed at $200, which is crazy. My feed store has 50 pound sacks of pure hulled Bermuda seed for $3 a pound.

The other thing with Bermuda seed is that if it's still cold outside, you have to use unhulled. The seed has a shell on it kind of like a walnut. The unhulled, or natural seed will sit in the ground until the hull rots off and exposes the seed inside of the shell. This will happen in nature when the temps get into the 80's. You get less seed per pound this way and it takes forever for the seed to come up. I wait until the temps are warm and then I buy the hulled Bermuda seed. If you seed just before it rains, or if you seed and water right away, you should have grass starting to grow in a week. It will be thin, and then it will be patchy, but in a few months, it will thicken up and start to look like something.

If you get a heavy rain and the soil washes out in place, creating ditches, fill them with gravel. This also called rip rap, and it will stop the water from washing out any more soil.

Good luck.
 
   / Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project
  • Thread Starter
#8  
Assuming the Bama name means that you are in Alabama, and that you have red clay soil because you said acidic soil, I'm going to also assume your conditions are similar to mine here in East Texas.

Coastal Bermuda is the most common grass in homes and pastures because it grows really well, doesn't need to be watered to make it through summer and it remains green the longest as we cool off for winter. Its easy to mow and it's nice to look at.

Bahia is something that you want to avoid at all costs. People spend a lot of money trying to kill off bahia. It's a native grass that does really well, but it grows in clumps and it has stalks that look horrible and wear out mower blades quickly.

Centipede looks nice, rarely needs mowing and it turns brown at the first hint of cool weather.

Sainte Augustine and Coastal Bermuda are the two most common sod grasses that I'm aware of. Sainte Augustine is a very nice grass that does well in shady areas, but it needs more water then Bermuda and it's more temperamental in soil conditions. If you can get it going, it's something to be proud of. I personally think the blades are too thick for my liking, but from a distance, it is very nice to look at.

If you seed with Coastal Bermuda, be sure to look at the label. It's a very small seed and if you buy it at Home Depot or Lowes, it will be about 25% seed and the rest is filler. Do the math and figure out what you are paying per pound. Also figure out how many pounds you need per acre. The last time I looked, I want to say it was ten pounds per acre of pure seed. Figure the store sells a ten pound bag for $50 that's really 2 1/2 pounds, so you need 4 bags to get ten pounds of seed at $200, which is crazy. My feed store has 50 pound sacks of pure hulled Bermuda seed for $3 a pound.

The other thing with Bermuda seed is that if it's still cold outside, you have to use unhulled. The seed has a shell on it kind of like a walnut. The unhulled, or natural seed will sit in the ground until the hull rots off and exposes the seed inside of the shell. This will happen in nature when the temps get into the 80's. You get less seed per pound this way and it takes forever for the seed to come up. I wait until the temps are warm and then I buy the hulled Bermuda seed. If you seed just before it rains, or if you seed and water right away, you should have grass starting to grow in a week. It will be thin, and then it will be patchy, but in a few months, it will thicken up and start to look like something.

If you get a heavy rain and the soil washes out in place, creating ditches, fill them with gravel. This also called rip rap, and it will stop the water from washing out any more soil.

Good luck.


Very good info. Thank you.

How does Bermuda sod usually do? I can get that as well.
 
   / Help with Seeding / Erosion Control Project #9  
Bermuda sod does great. You just have to water it every day for several weeks. You can lay them down tight together, or checkerboard them to cover more area and let it spread out to fill in the space. Cost around here is $155 a pallet, and it covers 450 square feet.
 

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