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Soil Erosion Problems and Solutions

Erosion Control

Best Ways to use Straw Blankets in Your Garden

Straw blankets, also called erosion control blankets, are frequently used in commercial construction projects to prevent topsoil from shifting. However, gardeners have known for years that straw and other organic materials are equally useful in residential landscaping and gardening projects.

The term ‘straw blanket’ has become a catch-all term for organic erosion control products, including coir mats in both woven and non-woven varieties. It’s also used to mean the layer of loose straw that gardeners have traditionally scattered over their bulbs for protection in colder months.

How to Use Straw Blankets

As mentioned above, a traditional use for straw blankets is winter protection for your plants. As a winter insulator, straw blankets are highly effective. The standard straw layer provides little in the way of nutrients but is an excellent way to maintain a safe temperature for bulbs and perennials.

Coir blankets can protect plants but have the added benefit of being highly resistant to mold, fungus, and bacteria, which can be a problem for a traditional straw layer in winter. They also retain moisture effectively, which can ensure your plants still receive the appropriate amount of water while remaining protected from the elements.

Coir blankets can also be used as an elevated insulator. By staking coir blankets above and around exposed plants, you can easily protect them from snow and ice while maintaining a stable temperature below the blankets.

Using Straw Blankets in Summer

Straw blankets serve a purpose in the summer months, too. As temperatures rise, topsoil tends to dry out, which can discourage plant growth. As coir absorbs water, it prevents topsoil from drying. Coir blankets also decompose naturally, adding nutrients to the soil and ensuring the longevity of your garden.

Using the blankets in summer can also regulate temperatures, which can be an issue in arid climates. Plants that grow too hot can wilt or even burn; straw blankets prevent this with moisture maintenance.

Straw Blankets and Seeding

Your garden isn’t just about your flowers or vegetables; for many people, ‘gardening’ refers to landscaping as well. Straw blankets, especially those made out of coir, are an excellent way to encourage seedling growth when trying to seed a new yard or re-seed a yard that has bare patches. When you apply the blanket on top of your seeded area, it facilitates germination by providing a consistently moist, temperature-controlled space. And again, by being both bacteria- and fungus-resistant, your grass or flower seeds will be protected from dangers that might otherwise negatively impact their growth potential.

Conclusion

Straw blankets, both traditional and coir versions, have a variety of uses in gardening and landscaping. Both are eco-friendly and are constructed of materials that will eventually degrade, though coir blankets tend to be easier to maintain and don’t require ‘flipping’ or soil integration the way straw does. If you want a high-density, sustainable straw blanket that works well in all environments and is both pet-safe and fungus-resistant, a coir blanket may be your best option.

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.

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. 

How to Use a Shade Cloth in Your Garden

Certain kinds of plants can be affected by the blazing summer heat and can be damaged or die from excessive sunlight. Shade cloths provide a solution to this issue by covering the plant and shielding it from the sun, which, in turn, helps the plant thrive. This guide will cover the basics of shade cloth, how to use it in your garden, and its benefits.

What Is Shade Cloth?

Shade cloth is made of a breathable material and, as such, it’s an effective and protective cover for plants. This knitted fabric allows sunlight and water to pass through. When you use shade cloth to shelter your plants, they won’t get scorched in the heat of the summer. With shade cloth, plants can get the proper amounts of sunlight and water they need for survival, without getting too much sun.

To accommodate every plant’s different growing conditions, shade cloth comes in a variety of materials, strengths, and sizes. Before you use shade cloth, make sure you’re using the appropriate type for your plants, climate, and growing space.

The Benefits of Using Shade Cloth

Using shade cloth as a protective barrier for your plants provides your garden with an abundance of benefits. The primary advantage of using shade cloth is that it keeps the summer sun from damaging your plants while still allowing air to circulate and water to pass through. As an added bonus, if you use a shade cloth, you could plant seeds a couple of weeks earlier than you would normally because the cloth will keep the ground warm in any season.

Thanks to its straightforward installation and affordable pricing, shade cloth is a budget-friendly way to protect plants in a garden. Also making shade cloth an economical choice is the fact that it can be used season after season, so long as it is well-maintained.

How to Use Shade Cloth

First, starting at one end of a row of plants, insert a garden hoop into the soil. Place extra garden hoops (make sure they’re at least a foot higher than the plants) approximately 2 feet apart down each row of the garden. Lay the shade cloth over each row of hoops. It’s important to keep an excess of shade cloth at the ends of each row so it touches the soil. 

Next, at the ends of the rows, you’ll need to anchor the shade cloth to the soil. Finally, water the garden thoroughly as normal. You don’t have to worry about removing the shade cloth when you’re watering, as it’s porous and breathable. Water will be able to reach your plants as well as the soil. You can remove the shade cloth when the hottest days have passed, roll it up, and store it in a dry area.

A shade cloth is a practical way to keep plants shaded and cool during the hot summer months. Shade cloth provides plants with many benefits and is relatively simple to install in any garden. Keep your garden protected from the sun by using shade cloth.

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.