Hydroseeding in Council Bluffs, IA

Hydroseeding in Council Bluffs means dealing with two very different kinds of ground. The city covers a region that was originally prairie and savanna in the Loess Hills, with extensive wetlands and deciduous forest along the Missouri River. Up on the hills the soil is loess, a fine wind-blown silt. Down by the river it is low, flat and often wet.

Why loess is tricky

Loess was laid down after the last Ice Age, when strong westerly winds picked up silt from drying Missouri Valley mud flats. Locals call it sugar clay: it can be extremely hard when dry and loses its cohesion when it gets wet. That is why the hills erode into sharp ridges and cat-step terraces. A bare loess cut can gully in a single storm, so on slopes we skip plain mulch in favor of rolled blankets or a sprayed bonded fiber matrix, and we shape the top of the slope so water does not pour over the edge.

Hills that rise fast

The Loess Hills generally stand up to about 200 feet above the floodplain in a narrow band roughly 200 miles long. In Council Bluffs that shows up as steep back yards, terraced lots and driveways cut into hillsides. We look at where downspouts and driveway runoff go before anything else; a slope that takes a whole roof's worth of water in one spot will not hold seed no matter what goes on it.

River-made lakes

Lake Manawa, at the southern edge of the city, was created by Missouri River flooding in the late 1800s. The low ground around it and along the river holds water. There the work is usually lawn installation on flat ground, with a wet-tolerant grass blend and grading that moves water toward a ditch or drain.

Native grass where it fits

The hills still hold remnants of native prairie with big and little bluestem, Indian grass and sideoats grama. On acreages and slopes you do not plan to mow, a native mix sprayed with hydromulch suits the ground and needs far less water once established.

Get a free estimate or call (402) 704-4105 for Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County.