Installed sod is expensive. 10,000 SF of installed sod (a typical backyard) will cost (2025) between $15,000 and $35,000. The same site installed with hydroseeding will cost around $5,000, including basic ground preparation. Mobilization (mileage) and hydroseeding water (no cost if provided via a fire hydrant meter by you) are additional. Check out your average installed Sod cost via Google.
If you’ve seen green stuff sprayed on the side of the highway, you’ve seen hydroseeding/hydromulching in action. This process involves mixing mulch, seed, fertilizer, tackifier (glue), and soil amendments in a machine, creating a slurry that is sprayed onto prepared/tilled soil. Hydroseeding enables seed to rapidly germinate and grow while the mulch keeps the soil and seed in place (limiting erosion and increasing seedling survival).
The benefits of hydromulching include limiting erosion, shortening germination time (warmer temperatures in the mulch and seeds are pre-soaked), and improving seedling survival by providing a moisture retention blanket, all while keeping everything on the seeded site.
Hydroseeding and hydromulching are similar, but they are different. Hydroseeding is used to evenly distribute seeds, fertilizer, and soil amendments on a site and requires an application of a mulch cap to prevent erosion and keep everything in place (blown straw mulch or a rolled erosion control mat). Hydromulching includes the mulch in the seeding application.
Residential: Hydroseeding is a cost saving and effective alternative to sod, especially on large sites (around 1/5th the cost). In 2024 sod costs are at around
$.51 per SF and an additional $1.00 for installation totaling ~ $1.50 per SF. Hydroseeding a premium Bermuda will be around $ .25 per SF installed (depending on distance from our office). If you have the
time/patience for turf establishment, which may take 1 season or more to fully establish, hydro seeding is a “no brainer” decision.
Commercial: Hydroseeding minimizes the potential for sheet erosion and allows seeding and mulching in a a single step (reducing the time required for immediate groundcover).
Mulch options offer customers alternatives to blown straw, RECPs, truckloads of topsoil, while shortening installation times and reducing the potential for DENR or EPA citations. The larger the site, the lower the
per SF or per Acre fee’s.
The “Seeding Season” adds a scheduling consideration. Sod can be installed year round while hydroseeding is seasonally dependent. Warm Season turfs (Bermuda, Carpetgrass, Bahia,
and Centipede) are limited to Mar-Sep. Cool Season Seeding is limited to Sep-Dec. Commercial projects that include temporary and permanent seeding requirements can have dormant seeding as an option if a single
seeding installation is required.
Spreading seed uniformly appears to be a “what’s the challenge” question.
Warm Season and native seeds are typically extremely small… and EXPENSIVE. Centipede has around 450,000 seeds per pound, Bermuda is at around 2 million seeds – imagine 4-20 seeds per a grain of sand.
Premium Bermuda seed starts at around $30/#, Centipede is ~$50/# and both are applied at 1-2lbs per 1,000 SF (~50 to 100lbs/Acre).
“Native” seed mixes can cost $270 (or more) per pound with seeding rates of 4lbs per acre (or lower). These low rates can only be uniformly applied with a hydroseeder.
Sheet erosion is the largest contamination to water globally. As a general contractor both the EPA and DENR (Department of Environmental Natural Resources) look at projects and allegations of water contamination. We can help you address EPA or DENR citations, more importantly we can help you get ground cover to eliminate complaints before they start. A Stop Work Order is bad… it’s worse when daily fines are added, we can help.
Optimized by Seraphinite Accelerator