Stuff + Nonsense

Why is the Lake Shore median blue?

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We have spray-on tans and spray-on hair. Now, spray-on grass seed! That’s what you see when driving along Lake Shore Blvd. E. at Leslie (and perhaps further, I haven’t looked) this fall.

That blue stuff (or green or teal) is a mix of grass seed, mulch (in this case, re-pulped paper), fertilizer and some kind of gluey polymer to hold it all in place. Of course, it also contains lots of water! The grass seed, being pre-soaked, germinates quickly, and the right polymers can help it all stay moister, longer, even without rainclouds or hoses.

It has names like “hydro grass” or “hydro seeding” or “hydraulic seeding.” Here’s more than you need to know about it, from a professional groundskeeping perspective.

Closeup views, just for you.

hydrograss-closeup1-torontogardens
Perhaps because it fell on the more-absorbent wood mulch on the flower bed, the paper mulch/seed slurry has dried at the edges. This application is on lower Leslie Street near the new TTC bus barn.
hydrograss-closeup2-torontogardens
Taken on October 30, 2016. These Leslie Street beds are a lot further along than the seeds on the Lake Shore median. Fall is usually a great time to seed a lawn, but November strikes me as a little too chilly.

You’ll see this method of lawn seeding available for home use, too. However, I think it’s best for large-scale seeding like this.

Easy for me to say. I don’t have a lawn! But I’m endlessly fascinated by these new (and new-ish) garden technologies. What do you think of it?

And this concludes my first post for another unofficial NaBloPoMo – in which we write a post a day for every day of November 2016. NaBloPoMo stands for National Blog Posting Month, which is the blogging step-sister to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Hope you’ll drop by to cheer us on.

Helen

Helen Battersby is a gardener, a writer, a garden speaker, and a power-walker, not always in that order!

2 comments

  1. Our street had gravel on either side (no sidewalks) and this summer they removed the gravel, put down some sort of screening and sprayed with the green stuff. They came around with a water truck a couple of times, but our heat and drought was just too much and they had to re-spray in September. There are still spotty areas, but it’s not looking too bad overall.

    I’m always impressed by those that can do daily posts. I take so much time writing and editing posts that there is no way I could fit that in unless that’s ALL I did! But I will cheer you on 🙂

    1. Usually, I sweat over every post, too, Margaret. Trust me, some NaBloPoMo posts will be “sweatier” than others. Glad you have you on the sidelines!

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