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Soil Erosion Problems and Solutions

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How to Use Jute Mesh for Erosion Control

One of the biggest problems gardeners and landscapers face is erosion control. Established plants help hold soil in place, but it can be difficult to get plants to stay on a sloped bank long enough to become established. Erosion control mats are a great way to counteract this problem. Try jute mesh for erosion control in your landscaping.

What Is Jute?

Jute, also called hessian, is a natural fiber that comes from the stem of the jute plant. These plants grow mainly in India, Bangladesh, and other Asian countries. Jute is one of the most widely available natural fibers and alongside coconut coir is one of the most popular natural fibers for ropes, bags, and other materials. The fiber of jute is off-white to brown and 3-10 feet long. Jute fabrics are often called hessian cloth, gunny bags, or burlap. 

Jute Mesh

Made from the woven fibers of the jute plant, jute mesh is a biodegradable, natural, and flexible material used for temporary erosion control and selective plant establishment. Jute mesh has openings in the weaves that trap seeds and provide a protective environment for germination. This mesh allows light and water to pass through, encouraging strong plant growth and enhanced mineral content in the soil. 

Jute Mesh for Erosion Control

Jute mesh can help prevent erosion on riverbanks, embankments, slopes, and other landscape features. It is commonly applied to roadside and general landscaping, garden and plant beds, wetlands and land reclamation, and other land features prone to erosion. To use jute mesh for erosion control correctly, first you must clear away debris and excess weeds from the slope or plain where you plan to place the mesh. 

Lay the jute mesh blankets across the cleared area, securing them in place with stakes every few feet. Once you have secured the mesh, add seeds or grass to prevent erosion. Because it is a natural product, jute mesh will biodegrade within six to 12 months. As an alternative, coir blankets and mats are great natural options for erosion control, especially when you need something that lasts longer and provides more support. 

Coir for Erosion Control

Coir erosion control mats are one of the most popular options for preventing the destruction of vegetation and landscaping. Coir fiber mats and blankets can be used to stabilize a location and prevent slides. They are woven from longer coir fibers, which come from mature brown coconut husks. This particular weave leaves openings that are wide enough to let plants to take root. On average, coir mats provide solid support for up to five years, which is enough time to allow vegetation to take root, grow, and stabilize. In addition, coir blankets and mats are relatively easy to install. 

Biodegradable jute mesh and coir mats offer excellent ways to prevent soil erosion while considering the environmental impact of your garden features. They will hold soil and seedlings in place until plants are well-established to prevent erosion. Try these tips to ensure you get the most out of your jute and coir erosion control mats. 

How to Keep Plants Warm With Burlap Netting and Blankets

Burlap has many uses, and thanks to its strength, adaptability, and reliability, it is an extremely useful product for a range of gardening situations. Burlap is a heavy-duty fabric manufactured from the skin of the jute plant. Typically, burlap is used to make rope, nets, bags, and other products. Gardeners frequently call upon burlap netting to help keep their plants warm during winter. This guide will cover why it’s necessary to keep your plants warm, the advantages of using burlap, and how to use burlap netting for your plants.

Why Do I Need Burlap Netting to Keep My Plants Warm?

As the year progresses, many plants aren’t able to survive the frigid temperatures and harsh conditions associated with winter. If certain types of plants are exposed to winter weather, they can die due to the extreme conditions. However, not all plants need to be protected when it’s cold and snowy outside. 

While some plants, such as certain kinds of perennials, can withstand winter conditions, it’s important to protect those that are unable to tolerate winter temperatures. This is where burlap netting comes into play. A tried-and-true gardening product, burlap is an important material that acts as a barrier to defend plants from cold weather. It also helps prevent winter burn caused by a combination of harsh winter sunlight and dry soil.

Benefits of Using Burlap

Burlap offers the perfect insulation for your plants and is relatively inexpensive to use. Additionally, burlap netting keeps plants warm and sheltered from all kinds of winter weather, including frost, snow, and ice. In comparison to plastic, burlap is more effective and provides better air circulation, which helps the plant breathe more naturally and efficiently. Environmentally conscious gardeners will appreciate burlap’s ability to biodegrade, making it a healthier choice for the environment as opposed to plastic netting or netting made from other synthetic materials.

How to Use Burlap Netting

If you’d like to use burlap netting to cover your plants for the winter, it’s a quick and straightforward process requiring only a few steps. To start, simply put a few wooden stakes around the plant you wish to cover. Allow a few inches between the stakes and the plant, so you’re not crowding the plant. Next, place at least two layers of burlap around each of the stakes, and anchor the burlap to the stakes. 

It is important to note that you should not allow the burlap to touch the plant, if possible, because in icy or snowy conditions, the burlap could get wet and freeze to the plant and damage it. When warmer weather arrives, all you have to do is remove the burlap from the plants and remove the stakes from the ground.

You’re all set to tackle winter and shield your plants from ice and snow using burlap netting. Burlap netting has many benefits that make it an effective barrier between your plants and harsh weather. Try using burlap netting this winter to keep your plants safe and warm during freezing temperatures.

Using Coir to Help With Soil Stabilization

Soil stabilization is an integral part of a variety of projects, from commercial and industrial construction to home gardening. Whether you need to build a road or just want to improve your property’s soil to encourage healthy plant life, soil stabilization is something you should consider early in your project.

What Is Soil Stabilization?

Simply put, soil stabilization is the process of altering your soil to enhance its physical properties. For example, a team working on a construction project might use soil stabilization as a way to increase the load-bearing capabilities of the ground they’re building on so the roadway or building has a more solid foundation. 

There are two main methods of soil stabilization:

  • Mechanical stabilization, which involves mechanical alteration of the soil (i.e., dropping a heavy weight repeatedly on the soil to smooth and compact the surface);
  • Chemical stabilization, which relies on adding something to the soil to alter its properties. Standard chemical stabilization additives include cement, lime, kiln dust, and fly ash.

Most recently, a form of chemical stabilization called polymer/alternative stabilization has begun to gain popularity, as the materials used are generally cheaper and more effective than traditional chemical stabilization additives. 

Using Coir for Soil Stabilization

Researchers have begun studying the use of coir fiber as a stabilization method and comparing it to standard chemical soil stabilization methods. Coir fibers — made from the husk of coconuts — are far more sustainable than most traditional chemical additives and have the advantage of being more eco-friendly. However, because of their biodegradable nature, coir fiber might need to be added to soil more frequently than would other chemical products. 

Coir pith is one of the forms of coir most commonly used for soil stabilization, as it can be purchased in easily transportable blocks to be crumbled on-site or it can be converted to organic ‘manure’ that you can spread quickly through the topsoil. 

Using coir as a soil stabilizer in your garden can have additional benefits. Because coir is fungus- and bacteria-resistant, it provides extra protection for your plants. It also increases the soil’s ability to hold water, as it is highly water-retentive. And as it breaks down, coir adds essential nutrients to your soil, contributing to your garden’s long-term health. This is especially useful when planting sensitive seeds or germinating plants that need specific conditions in which to grow successfully.

Soil stabilization is something that exists both to prepare residential landscaping sites and to improve commercial and industrial construction areas. From providing a more stable base for roadways to ensuring a solid foundation for new buildings, soil stabilization is widely practiced around the world. And while traditional methods have worked well for decades, new, eco-friendly ways are beginning to gain interest and popularity.

If you’re interested in soil stabilization, we recommend incorporating coir fiber as part of your plan. With its relatively low cost, high sustainability, and ease of use, coir fibers add strength and nutrients to your soil without resorting to harsh chemicals that can leach into groundwater. 

Biodegradable Fabric: Best Uses in Your Garden

Avid personal or professional gardeners know that water retention — especially in the summer — is a constant concern. If you leave your plants untended, they’ll die; if you overwater them, they’ll fail, as well. Without timed irrigation, you’re forced to rely on a neighbor to properly water your plants, which doesn’t always work out in your favor.

Luckily, there are new products on the market to help improve your garden and take the guesswork out of watering. While peat moss has been traditionally used to aid in plant growth, coir mats and biodegradable fabrics are much more sustainable products. Coir mats have become a go-to for gardening as they’ve become more available and improved in quality. 

What Is Coir?

Coir is a fiber extracted from coconut shells, commonly called the ‘golden fiber’ because of the golden hue it develops when cleaned. It’s fungus-resistant, retains water well, is durable, and provides excellent insulation for your plants. It’s also popular among pet owners, as it’s non-toxic and doesn’t attract their attention the way cocoa mulch might. It’s available in many forms, including woven and nonwoven mats perfect for gardening.

Preventing Erosion

Coir mats are great tools for preventing erosion, serving much the same purpose as straw wattles but with the added benefits of being both biodegradable and not harmful to wildlife. If you have sloped garden beds, coir matting can absorb excess rainwater and provide a safe space for your plants to grow. These mats generally come in both woven and nonwoven varieties and are available in several thicknesses. You can use the biodegradable mats on slopes above your garden, as well, to help control water and sediment flow.

Conserving Water

In addition to being more sustainable than peat moss, coir helps with water conservation efforts. In areas where drought is an issue, biodegradable fabrics such as coir mats can help reduce water usage in gardening and landscaping projects. Properly maintained coir mats require watering only once every week to 10 days due to their ability to retain moisture.

Germinating Sensitive Seedlings

If you want to make sure germinating seedlings have appropriate water and nutrients, a coir mat can help. Because they’re nontoxic and resistant to mold, bacteria, and fungus, coir mats provide a safe, stable environment for your seedlings to grow. They also offer natural nutrients as they decompose, invigorating your soil and extending the life of your garden plot. 

Coir mats can also be custom-sized, meaning you can fit them to your needs. They’re suitable for everything from small window plots that need help growing to large backyard gardens. 

Encouraging Sustainable Gardening

Coir mats, pots, and other biodegradable fabric products are smart options for amateur and professional gardeners alike. Their sustainability gives them a considerable advantage over peat products, as coconut trees only take six to eight years to mature and produce enough fruit to easily handle the demands for coir. Peat moss grows very slowly, and its harvest is monitored carefully. Coir is much more eco-friendly.

If you’re considering taking on a new landscaping project or improving your garden, look into coir mats and other biodegradable fabrics. Choose from the variety of products available to find something that will fit with your needs while being eco-friendly and pet-safe.

Natural Solutions for a Storm Drain Filter

The only thing going down your storm drain should be water. However, it’s all too easy for sediment, chemicals, trash, and more to wash down the drain along with the rain. These items get mixed into lake and river runoff and are bad for both the environment and the animals that live in it. 

Storm drain filters are great options for preventing non-water runoff in your drains. And there’s a wide variety of natural filter options available to choose from.

Coir Storm Drain Filters

While most storm drain filters are designed to fit under the grate of your drain, acting as a catchall for the type of debris you’re filtering, coir filters are designed as easy-to-install pads. Coir filters go on top of your storm drain and can be easily sized and cut to fit your specific needs and allow water to flow through while blocking other debris easily. 

Coir is a natural fiber extracted from coconut husks. Due to its eco-friendliness and availability, it’s become much more popular in recent years as a tool to assist with erosion control, planting and gardening, water retention, and more. Coir storm drain filters are a new addition to the plethora of coir tools available and are easy to clean and maintain. Sweep the sediment from the top and sides of your coir filter, and it’s ready to work again.

Other Filtration Options

Coir storm drain filters are highly practical for a wide variety of uses, but some industries need specialized filters for their storm drains. For this reason, there are inset drains available that can filter items such as oils and heavy metals, trapping these pollutants effectively and keeping them out of waterways. In these cases, a coir storm drain filter might not be the best option. It’s important to do your research and make sure you’re using the right storm drain filter for your needs.

Changing Your Storm Drain Filter

It’s important to make sure you maintain your storm drain filters properly because your drains are essential to water filtration and healthy natural water sources. When and how you change your storm drain filters depends on their condition. At a minimum, you should replace your storm drain filter every three years.

Coir storm drain filters might need to be changed more often, as it’s possible for sediment to build up on top of the filter and prevent water from draining properly. If you notice pooling water or you struggle to remove all sediment from the top of your coir filter, it’s time for a replacement. Other signs it’s time to change the filter include more than a quarter inch of buildup, obvious scum, and several inches of water still standing more than a day after it’s rained.

Your coir drain filter is also biodegradable, so watch for signs that it’s beginning to decompose. While the fibers won’t hurt the waterways, it’s best to remove and replace the filter before it fully dissolves so you can make sure you’re protecting your drain.