Planting Grass to avoid erosion

[Goodlife]

I just had a road put in up a steep hill. I am worried about the ditches and slopes on the sides of the road eroding bad. I am in S. IL where we generally get down to a frost temp at night and in the 45-55 range in the day this time of year. I am planning on going out this weekend and braodcasting some KY31 Fescue mixed with some Wheat (about 50/50 by weight). I would obviously liked to have done this in November, but now is when my highlift guy got the work completed. I am going to scatter straw to cover the seed, and place a couple of speared bales spaced in each ditch. I am also going along and tossing a small log in a few places on the slopes to hopefull slow the running water. If it matters, this road is around 500-600 feet long and all uphill (or downhill depending on your vantage point ).

Will this seed get a hold enough to keep this raw dirt in place over the winter? That is why I am mixing in the wheat, it comes up quick and I think will have a better chance at getting a stand this winter. Am I just wasting my money planting grass now? Anyother suggestions?

 

[Howdyjabo]

I cover the area with bedding manure from the barns(make it black).If you built a road your probably don't have topsoil there and need something to get things going. Then I broadcast fescue and Rye. I use the rye because the next spring it mulches the banks for the summer.

 

[kenny thomas]

Not sure who makes it or where you might find it but you might look for product that is straw in a mess plastic or fiber that you can unroll along the ditchline and banks. Staples come with it to hold it down. Some has the seed already in it but I kinda think it is just as good to use fescue and rye or wheat and roll out the material on top of it. I am sure someone else on here can help us with a name or company.

 

[Goodlife]

I was trying to figure out how to post pictures so here is a pic of the new road.

 

[Goodlife]

Ok...upside down. I turned it over in Photobucket, but it appears it keeps the original formatting when pasting it. Sorry, you will have to hold your monitor or laptop upside down to see it?? Anyone know how to fix this? I must have a habit of turning my iPhone the wrong way to take pictures. More than half of mine show upside down when I view them NOT on my iPhone. My iphone shows them just fine??

 

[Goodlife]

Ok...I am completely confused. When I posted this picture it was upside down (thus the last post). Now I go into the thread and the pic is right side up?? Any computer geniuses out there with an explanation?

 

[dun]

Ok...I am completely confused. When I posted this picture it was upside down (thus the last post). Now I go into the thread and the pic is right side up?? Any computer geniuses out there with an explanation?

HPFM= Hocus Pocus Magic

 

[Bigfoot]

I am south of you, but comparable weather. I am doubting the seeds sprout. Who knows as crazy as our winters are any more. Even if it did I don't think it would give you the ground cover you need. I would pitch anything that would work in that ditch, and spread straw deep on the bare ground. Twic I have gotten a late start on some bulldozing, and it was too late to seed.

 

[Goodlife]

Ok...I am completely confused. When I posted this picture it was upside down (thus the last post). Now I go into the thread and the pic is right side up?? Any computer geniuses out there with an explanation?

HPFM= Hocus Pocus Magic

Very good Dun. A computer guru along with cattle, and if you are from the Ozarks, you of necessity must be a fishing expert too. I love that area. Get to the Lake area about everyother year. Can't get used to the Fried Lobster at the Blue Heron though.

 

[gonzo]

Igot part of a pasture that steep ,it'll always be challenged land . I plant a small area at a time mostly by hand. Then I stretch out that jewt netting I take off round bales I buy. It holds the seed long enough for some of it to take . It's a pain in the ax but it's been work'n so far .good luck

 

[gonzo]

What KT is talkin about is jewt matt big bucks USDA or soil and water carries it here.

 

[skyhightree1]

Here i would use whats called contractors mix .. which is ryegrass. and straw

 

[Goodlife]

Well, this weekend I got it seeded and about 3/4 of it covered with Straw. I hope it holds. I also went and threw some logs and rocks (trying to be sure they were pretty flush with the ground) about every 30-40 feet in the ditches on both sides to help slow the water down.

I was shocked at how high straw has gotten. I paid $5.50 per bale, and they weren't packed tight at all. When I buy more I need to find someplace other than Rural King to buy it at. Now the temperature is dropping into the 20's this week at night. I am afraid I wasted my money trying to sow grass and wheat this late. Hopefully the straw and logs will hold back the erosion until I can get something down in the spring.

 

[denvermartinfarms]

Here i would use whats called contractors mix .. which is ryegrass. and straw

That's what i use too and i add 50 pounds of wheat to 100 of seed. I have to do alot of it all times of the year on jobs just like this and reseeding over where we put in new underground utility's. You may be suprised how much comes up.

 

[greybeard]

That's a nice looking road Goodlife!
Anything you can put in the side ditch going down that slope will help till spring thaw comes and you get some good roots established to hold the soil. I know if I tried it in winter, we'd get a gullywasher rain the next day and all the seed would be sprouting in a big wad at the bottom of the hill. I don't know anything about your region, but around here, I have less worries and problems with a slope like you have down the hill and a lot more problems with an area like shown in the foreground to the right where the shoulder slopes sharply off to the right. If that shoulder gets the runoff from the roadway it appears to get,little canyons will soon appear running perpendicular to the roadway, getting bigger and bigger and soon it will make your crushed rock start to migrate out to both sides. I'm forever having to re-grade my road and bring the substrate back up where it should be.
Good luck with it!

 

[dun]

Do you have a sheeps foot roller? If you do you can roll the ditches after you broadcast seed, it would work even better if you spread straw before rolling it.

 

[kenny thomas]

Goodlife, look at www.nancysblankets.com to see the stuff I was talking about. They are located in Ohio but several companys make these products. U might need it another time or maybe if what to have already done doesnt work. If you can keep it there what you done will be fine I think.

 

[skyhightree1]

Here i would use whats called contractors mix .. which is ryegrass. and straw

That's what i use too and i add 50 pounds of wheat to 100 of seed. I have to do alot of it all times of the year on jobs just like this and reseeding over where we put in new underground utility's. You may be suprised how much comes up.

exactly

 

[OldCrow]

Goodlife,

I second the nice looking road comment. Sounds like your on the right track to doing the best you can do for your situation/timing. The straw bales are a great idea and essentially serve as what people call them in the erosion control world as "Check Dams". They slow the velocity of water down which causes soil to be caried away. In the spring you will have little mounds of dirt piled up behind the bales that you can smooth back down with a blade and reseed all that didn't take. Another thing you can do to areas where the seed didn't take(instead of using expensive straw), for a temporary winter fix, is buy a load of mulch to throw on the bare areas, this will keep the pounding of rain from eroding at the surface, then in the spring you can disk it in and reseed. I noticed that you cut the trees back which is good as this will allow sunlight in for the grass to grow on the slopes and ditch and not have to compete with the trees as much. More than likely the dithces running paralell with the road will get bigger over the years as another poster mentioned. If you install small riprap check dams in the ditches they will slow this process way down but will recquire maintenance every so often, ie cleaning out the sediment load that dropped out behind them. In the end there is a certain amount of erosion that you will never be able to get rid all we can do is try to minimize it. Hope this helps, although I'm a little late to the dance.

OldCrow