Hydroseeding in Glenwood, IA

Hydroseeding in Glenwood works with a town set in a hollow of the Loess Hills on the east side of the Missouri River. Streets climb out of the valley floor onto hills such as Seminary Hill north of the courthouse square, and old names like Slaughterhouse Hill at Glenwood Lake Park give a sense of how much of the town is on a slope.

Hills that funnel water

A town in a hollow collects water from the hills around it. Yards at the bottom of a slope often get the runoff from every property above them. Before we seed, we look at where that water comes from and where it should leave. Sometimes the fix is a shallow lined swale; sometimes it is a berm at the top of a yard. Once water is managed, hydroseed with a heavier mulch rate holds well on moderate slopes, and steeper ones get blankets.

Keg Creek

Glenwood prospered during the California Gold Rush largely because of a grain mill on Keg Creek, and a creek still runs through the golf course that opened in 1964. Creek banks in loess soil cut quickly when water runs high. For bank work we keep heavy equipment back from the edge, reshape where needed and use erosion control blankets with a deep-rooted seed mix.

After the 2019 flood

In March 2019 Mills County was hit with catastrophic flooding. Glenwood itself was not directly affected, but residents were on a boil order for weeks, and nearby Pacific Junction was nearly completely flooded. Ground in the river bottoms west of town still carries that history. Where we seed on low ground, we pick grasses that tolerate wet soil and avoid seeding just before high water is expected.

Orchard town roots

In the late 1800s Glenwood was widely known as Iowa's center of fruit production, especially apples. Old orchard ground and large historic lots, including the grounds of the Glenwood Resource Center, are full of mature trees. Under them we use shade-tolerant seed and avoid tilling through root zones.

Get a free estimate or call (402) 704-4105 for Glenwood and Mills County.