A Seeding Crew Built Around Portland's Wet Months and Dry Ones

Hydroseeding Portland sprays new lawns, stabilizes bare slopes, sets silt fence and inlet protection, and handles the grading and topsoil prep that has to happen before any seed goes down. We work for homeowners, builders, landscapers and site contractors in Portland and the surrounding cities on both sides of the Columbia.

The work here runs on a split calendar. Portland International Airport averages 36.92 inches of precipitation a year, but July and August together get only about an inch, and rain falls on about 157 days a year, mostly as long stretches of drizzle from mid-fall into mid-spring. Oregon State University Extension puts the ideal fall window for seeding a Willamette Valley lawn at August 15 to September 15, and calls anything after October 15 a waste of time. That gives us two good seasons for lawns, a busy fall rush, and a winter spent mostly on erosion control.

The city's own rules shape the job as well. Portland City Code Title 10 prohibits sediment leaving a construction site, and between October 1 and April 30 bare ground on a development site has to be stabilized within two days of disturbance. Between May 1 and September 30 the limit is seven days. We plan our schedules around those deadlines so a builder is not left with open dirt and an inspector at the gate.

On every Portland job

• Before we put a number on anything, someone walks the ground and checks slope, drainage, soil and how far the hose has to reach
• The estimate breaks out prep, the seed blend, which mulch we plan to spray and whatever erosion measures the site needs, each on its own line
• Seed mixes are chosen for sun, shade and use, using cool-season grasses suited to western Oregon
• Steeper ground gets heavier mulch or blankets, not just a thicker coat of the same slurry
• On permitted jobs we install what the approved erosion plan shows and keep it maintained until the grass takes over
• Before the truck pulls away, we leave a printed sheet on how to water the new seed and when to mow it the first time

We do not claim to be geotechnical engineers. On a slide-prone or very steep lot we work from the engineer's design and handle the seeding, blankets and sediment controls it calls for.

Call (971) 588-2069 to set up a site visit, or send the details through the estimate form.