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Soil Erosion Problems and Solutions

Landscaping

Tips for Using Riprap and Rockscaping

Riprap and rockscaping are an alternative to traditional mulch for landscaping in any kind of environment. Rocks are versatile; they can be used for erosion control and many other landscaping needs. This review will cover the benefits of using riprap for rockscaping and tips for doing it yourself.

What Is Riprap?

Riprap consists of rocks of varying shapes and sizes that are layered on top of one another. The purpose of riprap is to protect the soil and control erosion. The sizes of the rocks used in riprap depend on the kind of project and the terrain on which it is being used.

The Applications of Riprap

The primary use for riprap is to hold soil in place, especially on slopes and other areas where soil can be disturbed by water or wind. Riprap can be used on steep slopes, along lakeshores and riverbanks, and around bridge foundations and supports. In addition, rocks can be used to inhibit weed growth, anchor the soil, and prevent erosion in landscaping and gardening projects.

The Benefits of Riprap

Riprap is a strong and durable material that can withstand harsh weather conditions. You don’t have to worry about replacing the rocks like you would with traditional mulch, which needs to be replaced frequently. Rocks and stones also tend to be more aesthetically pleasing than traditional mulches in many kinds of gardens. 

You can use rocks in conjunction with landscape netting to minimize erosion and control the growth of weeds. However, it’s important to note that you’ll likely need to weed the area if there are any large gaps between the rocks.

Tips for Rockscaping

Make sure that your riprap includes rocks of numerous shapes and sizes. A variety of sizes will cause the rocks to lock in tightly, preventing them from shifting. You can use riprap under decks and patios and around fire pits and the perimeters of buildings. It is best to use rocks around shrubs, trees, and vegetation that do not need to be replanted every season (and, hence, require you to regularly move rocks).

Using rocks in conjunction with coconut coir landscape netting can help keep seeds and soil from being swept away by wind and water. Coir fibers are extremely strong and environmentally friendly. The fibers will eventually biodegrade, and, as the organic coir fibers naturally decompose, they will mix with the soil, providing supplemental nutrients for the plants. 

Using coir landscape netting with rockscaping can help protect the soil and the surrounding vegetation from being damaged by strong winds and water. Coir landscape netting is especially beneficial for sloped areas; the coir fibers absorb water and slow the speed of its flow, preventing it from washing away vegetation and soil.

Follow these tips to combat erosion and inhibit weed growth in your garden and landscaping. Riprap and rockscaping can embellish your landscape and protect your plants. Give rockscaping a try for your next gardening or landscaping project.

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.

Everything You Need to Know About Soil Maps

Soil maps are an essential tool when it comes to land management. As knowledge about the environment grows, experts are learning that what is done in one area can have farther reaching impacts on the surrounding area. Mapping sustainable and unsustainable land for the long term is an excellent way to ensure proper planning, and the best way to move forward. Think of soil maps as a much larger version of testing the soil in your garden. Let’s deep dive into this topic and see how it can help your gardening efforts.

At the beginning of your growing season, most farmers and gardeners make the decision to test their soil. It’s important to determine whether or not you need to add fertilizer to your garden to provide your plants with the elements they need to grow strong and healthy. You don’t want to plant your garden with too much or not enough of a particular nutrient in the ground. In the long run, this practice could cause problems with your plants not performing as expected. 

What Are Soil Maps?

Think about how your backyard garden is set up. You may have several different types of soil to work with around the yard. For instance, you may not use the back portion because it has heavier clay soil, while the middle of your backyard has better soil for your garden’s vegetable plants. This soil is more conducive to successful gardening without requiring any changes, unlike the clay areas. On a smaller scale, when you test your garden soil, you’re creating your own soil map. 

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service collects data and creates soil maps. They collect web soil survey data from throughout the country that examines the soil in detail. They then compile the web soil survey data into the soil maps. The maps will describe and classify the type of soil found in these areas. Soil-type maps can then help determine land management practices based on what dirt is located in that particular area.

How Are Soil Maps Made?

The USDA creates soil maps through a variety of means. They go out to the region they are mapping and compile data through physical field sampling and technology. They collect additional data through aerial photography and other sensing technology.

Technology has changed how the USDA maps the regions where they gather data. In the past, researchers had to use paper maps, cameras with film that needed to be developed, and topographic sheets to input their data. 

Now, they can use tablets that offer GPS and all of the map equipment they need on it. Their digital photos and other data can all be combined using the tablet, to create the soil map as they go along. An additional technological benefit is that in the past these surveys had to be printed. It could take years for the public to have access, which left the potential for the public to only have access to outdated information. That’s no longer the case with the use of tablets, computers, and online publishing. 

Information Included in the USDA Soil Survey

A USDA soil survey includes a wide variety of information that provides all of the data. It starts with an overview of the geography of the area, data about the major soil types, detailed pictures, and information on crops and plants located in the area. It also includes in-depth information on the soil, such as depth of the dirt, texture, and permeability.

Value of USDA Soil Survey Maps

To many, dirt is just dirt. The soil is so much more than that, though, as the qualities of the earth can differ from place to place. Land can have limitations and benefits that prompted experts to create a classification system for clay that’s called soil taxonomy. This taxonomy establishes a basis for the proper agricultural and engineering applications available for the soil that exists in a particular spot. 

Who Uses Soil Maps?

It may seem like soil maps aren’t something accessible for anyone outside of the US government but these maps are beneficial to other groups. Anyone can get access to the soil maps the USDA creates. The plans are available to the public and have a variety of uses. People can visit the Web Soil Survey site or WSS to access the data and create their own custom soil survey of the areas they choose.

What are Soil Maps Used For?

Developers and builders can use these maps to help in planning out their buildings. The structure of the soil can be crucial to whether or not the area can support development. The ground may be more beneficial for a particular type of construction, or it may show that building in that site isn’t advisable. 

Businesses that work with soil, such as farms and ranches, can use soil maps to determine where they should plant their fields or graze their livestock. They can use the information from the soil survey to determine if they should move their flocks to another area or if they should leave a particular field fallow. It can also help if they plan on expanding their farms with an additional property, to give them an idea of whether or not the soil in the area can support their plans.  

Even homeowners can benefit from using soil maps. The maps can help them when it comes to starting a garden, planting trees, picking out a new home, or even adding on to an existing home. The information can allow you to make an educated decision on matters that pertain to the land around you.

Whether it’s a prominent developer building a new shopping plaza or a homeowner trying to determine the best place in their backyard to grow vegetables, soil mapping is beneficial. The soil that’s under every building, park, farm, and place on earth has a story to tell. Soil maps make it possible to make the right decision for future soil planning on every level.  

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.

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.