Erosion Control & Revegetation:
Erosion Control and Revegetation...How Is It Done?
Step 1: Consultation and Site Preparation
A Groundworks® Ecoblanket specialist will inspect the site and organize soil testing by Dennis Baker (Environmental Soil Solutions). Upon receiving recommendations for amelioration of the site soils, Groundworks will organize to have the suggested products (eg lime or gypsum) added to the compost or the water truck (eg soil wetting agents) if necessary. Our native seeds expert will be consulted to ensure the seed lists contain only species that have an excellent chance of germination in the prevailing conditions and that will be compatible with pneumatic application.
Groundworks Ecoblanket is so effective that little preparation work needs to be done to a site and the small amount that may be required is simple, easily achieved and incurs minimal cost. Our suggestions will also ensure future weeding costs will be either eliminated or kept to a bare minimum.
Step 2: Application
Groundworks has an exceptional training program and environmental protection policy that ensures our technicians can expertly apply the Ecoblanket® at the required depth by use of our low impact pneumatic blower units. Our trucks are capable of pumping the compost up to 150m away eliminating the need for heavy machinery to be driven onto already damaged or fragile sites.
Where height is an obstacle, our hoses can be lifted with a cherry picker so that even the most inaccessible corners can be treated.
Step 3: Watch Your Site Transform
It really is as simple as that. Groundworks has had four years experience and the foresight to constantly research and refine the process of erosion control with compost blankets. Our success is built upon the following:
1. Thorough information gathering at the first site visit.
2. Consultation with experts
3. Experience with hundreds of Ecoblankets to ensure yours will work (or we will decline to treat the site if we are not very sure of the outcome).
4. Top class staff training programs, including accreditation by Rexius (the American company who pioneered compost blankets)
5. A guarantee that you will get at least 85% strike rate of the cover crop (though most of our recent Ecoblankets are in excess of 95%)
Pacific Pines: Photo on the left shows Ecoblanket that is only weeks old. On the right is the same Ecoblanket after only 6 months.
Pacific Pines: Ecoblanket on the batter along the road and around to the foreground of the photo is approximately 6 months old. The pale area in front of the silt fencing is hand planted stock that has been mulched. On the right is the Ecoblanket at 12 months. It is interesting to note that there has been little growth of the handplanted stock in the same time period.
Tugun Bypass: Photo on the left shows the batter as it was first cut and the poor quality soil of which it was composed. Groundworks treated the site with Ecoblanket and on the right is the result after 18 months.
Ecoblanket is a trademarked process that is not available to any other company. Not all compost blankets are Ecoblanket so be absolutely sure you know what you are paying for. A reputable company will be able to answer all of your questions regarding the regeneration of an ecosystem from the canopy down to the micro-organisms that inhabit the soil, they will consult with experts, they will be able to provide photographic evidence of the success of dozens of Australian sites, they will have received training from experts, they will be able to reproduce their results on many sites and they will offer a guarantee of success.