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Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Green Living. The biggest reason for soil erosion is water. This includes water from rain, rivers, floods and oceans. So if you live in these regions and have a large lawn, consider using a border of prairie grasses to help the environment. These features add tremendous benefit by preventing erosion and loss of soil resources.
Terracing is a method of slope control where the slope is shaped in a staircase pattern. You can use buffer strips of prairie grasses to terrace your lawn.
Alternatively, you can use a brick or stone structure. Terracing creates a pattern of several feet of lawn grass rimmed with either a vegetative buffer, a brick or stone structure, or a retaining wall. For more ideas on how to terrace your property, check out this site that has great aesthetic designs. Rainfall that comes from your roof can have a severe impact on soil erosion on your property.
There are several ways to manage this water depending on local and state regulations. Rain collection barrels trap rainfall before it ever hits the soil surface. If you live in a state that does not allow rain collection barrels, consider French drains or rain gardens.
These divert the water to designated areas in your lawn that are equipped with means of managed drainage. French drains are typically designed as perforated HDPE pipe that is surrounded by gravel.
They allow filtered water into the pipe which is then carried off the property to a sewer system or drainage area. Rain gardens are essentially miniature wetlands. They are small areas that can remain wet, and support plant life that thrives in standing water or saturated soils. Rain gardens are ideal because they help filter water as it percolates into the soil profile down to the groundwater table. For more information about rain gardens, visit this site from Washington State University that highlights the basics and functions of the different types you can use in your yard.
If you are still experiencing erosion, ponding water, or poor vegetative cover due to saturated soils after implementing these steps, reach out to a soil scientist about the issue. Sometimes a more aggressive investigation is needed to identify what exactly is needed for proper infiltration and erosion control. When we think of erosion, we tend to think about larger areas that have undergone land disturbance or larger areas that produce enormous volumes of sediment deposition. But smaller scale properties like households and lawns can experience erosion as well.
Keeping your topsoil in place with these types of practices will help keep your lawns healthy and productive for vegetative growth. To receive notices about future blogs, be sure to subscribe to Soils Matter by clicking on the Follow button on the upper right! Explore more on our webpage About Soils. Thanks for finding time to write about this issue of soil erosion. The soil surface should be barely visible through the straw mulch.
On steep or high-wind sites, straw must be anchored to keep it from blowing away. Straw mulch is commonly anchored by crimping, tracking, disking, punching into the soil, covering with a net, spraying with asphaltic or organic tackifier, or tacking with cellulose or other product. These various straw mulch anchoring techniques are described below. Applied at a rate of 5 to 8 tons per acre, this mulch material should also be evenly distributed across the surface to a depth of about 2 inches. If soil building and revegetation are desired, increase the application rate of nitrogen fertilizer by 20 pounds of nitrogen per acre.
This compensates for the temporary loss of available nitrogen to soil microbes as they break down the carbon-rich mulch. Rock may be useful for stabilizing long slopes that will not support thickly seeded grass.
Install non-woven geotextile on graded slopes and place rock of mixed sizes on the geotextile, starting at the bottom and working uphill. Generally, rock is not suitable for residential or other areas where aesthetics are a design consideration.
Hydraulic mulch also known as hydromulch can be used to rapidly stabilize critical areas that are difficult to reach or are located on slopes greater than The specific composition of the mulch and application rates vary. In general, a hydraulic mulch is a processed material that can be applied in a continuous stream when mixed with water, and can vary in type, composition, additive materials, and durability i. When applied, hydraulic mulches form a thick crust or mat-like barrier that controls water and wind induced erosion.
Many proprietary products feature a mix of natural and synthetic fibers and cellulose. This type of mulch is typically mixed in a hydraulic application machine hydroseeder and applied via sprayer as a liquid slurry at a minimum rate of 1. The slurry usually contains a dye to aid in visual metering during application, although the dye must be biodegradable and not inhibit plant growth. Hydraulic mulches can also contain the recommended rates of seed and fertilizer for the site, and be specified with or without a tackifier.
One or two application rates are generally specified for hydraulic mulch. The first is the blanket equivalent rate required for erosion prevention usually between 3, and 4, pounds per acre. The other, typically half the erosion blanket control rate, is useful for enhancing seed germination and soil stabilization where slopes are or flatter. The following table summarizes MnDOT approved products for hydraulic mulch.
MnDOT approved - qualified hydraulic mulch products Link to this table. MnDOT Specification Part D page covers disk anchoring of mulch applicable to Types 1, 3, and 8. Part K. Specification C page prescribes requirements for measurement of mulch, and Specification E page covers measurement of disk anchoring. Inspect mulched areas weekly and after rainstorms to check for rill erosion, dislocation, or failure.
Repair or replace any bare areas promptly. If properly applied and anchored, little additional maintenance is required for mulch during the first few months. After high winds or significant rainstorms, mulched areas should be checked for adequate cover and re-mulched if necessary. For permanent stabilization, mulch needs to last until vegetation is well established to provide permanent erosion resistant cover.
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