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Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

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Saturday - February 04, 2012

From: Austin, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Planting, Drought Tolerant, Grasses or Grass-like
Title: Can Habiturf be planted by hydroseeding from Austin?
Answered by: Barbara Medford

QUESTION:

We are thinking about seeding our lawn with HABITURF. Could you provide any input on whether HABITURF can be planted by hydroseeding? Thanks!

ANSWER:

First, please read our How-To Article Native Lawns: Habiturf-the Ecological Lawn. From that article, we extracted this paragraph:

"Sow.
Sow the seed —the small, hand-cranked seed broadcasters are great— and rake and press with a garden roller or your feet. Seeds need good soil contact. Early spring is the best sowing time once soil temperatures warm up. Later in the growing season will work but will require more water. Avoid mid-summer and winter."

We're not going to say that means it can't be hydroseeded but it does mean that we have no research results on that process with Habiturf. Because we were not personally familiar with the hydroseeding methods, we did some research to which we can refer you.

From the website All About Lawns Planting by Hydroseeding. There were several other articles, but they generally said about the same thing. Unless you are planting new lawns on a university campus, we think that the recommended method from our grass experts will be less expensive and more effective.

 

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