Eco-Restoration Journey Week 26: The fast-growing world of hydroseeding

Can plants come out of a hose? Thanks to an intriguing process called hydroseeding, the answer is “yes.”

Hydroseeding along the All Persons Trail at Harwich Conservation Trust’s Hinckleys Pond — Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project. Photo by Gerry Beetham

If you happened to take a spin past Harwich Conservation Trust’s (HCT) Hinckleys Pond — Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project in recent days, you may have seen an unusual sight: workers spraying a semi-liquid green mix along the sides of the soon-to-open All Persons Trail.

No, it’s not part of a grandiose art installation, it’s hydroseeding, a smart and fast way to apply native plant seeds and give them a jumpstart toward successful germination. Once established, these plants will help secure sloped areas and prevent erosion caused by rainfall runoff.

The hydroseeding mix contains water, seeds and mulch, which retains moisture and helps the seeds germinate. The addition of a temporary green pigment allows workers to ensure an even application.

Mike Lundsted, Project Manager for SumCo Eco-Contracting said two different hydroseed mixes were used at the Hinckleys Pond — Herring River Headwaters Preserve.

A “dry mix,” containing seeds that include red fescue, Canada wild rye, little bluestem and switchgrass was applied to upland areas. A “moist mx,” containing seeds that include riverbank wild rye, New York ironweed, soft rush and New England aster was applied to transitional slopes from the trail down to the wetland.

Annual rye helps native plants grow

Both mixes were supplemented with annual rye, which will play the role of a “nurse crop,” according to Jonathan Gawrys, Team Lead for SumCo Eco-Contracting.

When the hydroseed is applied, there’s a brighter green contrast along the trail edge before the seeds start growing. On the left is the Cape Cod Rail Trail. 

“We almost always include a nurse crop with our permanent native seed mixes,” said Gawrys. “A lot of the seeds of our native species require what is called a cold stratification before they will germinate — essentially, they need to be exposed to winter temperatures before they will pop in the next spring. The nurse crop helps to stabilize the area in the interim.”

New England ingenuity appears to have played an important role in the history of hydroseeding. According to many sources, the process was invented in the 1940s by Maurice Mandel, a Connecticut Highway Department employee, as a way to improve seeding operations on steep embankments next to roads.

With hydroseeding in the rearview mirror, much of the work has been completed on the project, and there is a growing sense of excitement as we move toward the Preserve’s re-opening.

It won’t be long before we are bopping along the mile-long All Person’s Trail, which allows folks of all abilities to enjoy nature. We’ll be admiring the flourishing native plants in the restored wetland and savoring the view from the new Hinckleys Pond overlook area. Stay tuned for re-opening details!

Project refresher

The Hinckleys Pond – Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project includes the restoration of two retired cranberry bogs that bookend 174-acre Hinckleys Pond in Harwich, located at the headwaters of the Herring River estuary. Hinckleys Pond is also connected by streams to river herring spawning habitat in Long Pond and Seymour Pond.

Harwich Conservation Trust’s Hinckleys Pond — Herring River Headwaters Eco-Restoration Project includes the rewilding of two retired cranberry bogs that bracket Hinckleys Pond, indicated with red circles. The blue arrows pointing into the three ponds show upstream migration of river herring each spring.

By the late 1990s, much larger off-Cape bogs were producing an extra supply of cranberries that caused the price to fall. This shift in the industry makes it more difficult for local growers to continue farming. Some are looking to exit the industry.

Farmers have a choice. They can either sell their properties for conversion of the upland to subdivisions which can cause water quality changes and end up closing off public access to the land. Or they can seek a conservation future by selling to local land trusts and towns. In 2021 at Hinckleys Pond, the Jenkins family finished their farming chapter and chose to sell their 31 acres to HCT for the next chapters of conservation and eco-restoration.

The Brown family, who owns a retired bog on the other side of the pond, is also partnering with HCT on the project. The collaborative eco-effort will increase biodiversity and restore freshwater wetland habitat as well as enhance opportunities for everyone to enjoy the trails, views and wildlife watching.

The eco-restoration project was funded by HCT donors, the Brown family, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed grant, EPA National Estuary Program Coastal Watershed grant under cooperative agreement with Restore America’s Estuaries, Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation MassTrails grant, foundation funds through the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, and a Transformational Habitat Restoration & Coastal Resilience grant through the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

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