Erosion Control & Slope Seeding in Boston, MA

Erosion control and slope seeding in Boston is about one thing: keeping soil in place long enough for grass roots to hold it on their own. Steep backyards, cut banks along driveways, swales that carry runoff past a house, and ditch lines on new roads all lose soil every time it rains hard. We use the right covering for the slope and the water: hydromulch for gentle grades, a bonded fiber matrix for steeper ground, and straw or coir erosion control blankets where water runs in a channel. Homeowners, builders and property managers call us as erosion control contractors when a bank keeps washing out or when a plan calls for slope stabilization.

Why Boston-area slopes wash out

Much of the region is glacial country. Drumlins, the rounded hills the glaciers left behind, rise all through the western suburbs, and the USDA lists drumlins and hills among the landforms where Paxton soils form, on slopes as steep as 45 percent. Paxton has a loamy surface over dense till. Rain soaks the top layer, hits the dense layer and runs sideways, and a bare slope sheds the loose surface soil fast. Add about 43.6 inches of precipitation a year and nor'easters that can drop a lot of rain in one storm, and a freshly graded bank has a hard time making it to spring without help.

Picking the right cover

• Hydromulch (wood or paper fiber with tackifier) is sprayed with the seed. It works on gentle to moderate slopes and is the most economical choice.
• Bonded fiber matrix (BFM) is a heavier hydraulic mulch with stronger binders. It dries into a continuous mat that resists raindrop splash and sheet flow, so it fits steeper slopes where regular hydromulch would slide.
• Straw erosion control blankets are rolled and stapled over seeded ground. They suit moderate slopes and short-term protection.
• Straw-coconut and coir blankets last longer and handle more water, so they go in swale bottoms, ditch lines and very steep cuts.

We often combine them: blankets in the channel, BFM or hydromulch on the side slopes.

Swales and ditches

Water running in a channel moves soil much faster than rain on a slope. A swale along a property line or a roadside ditch needs a blanket staked down in overlapping rows, starting at the downstream end so water flows over the seams instead of under them. We trench the top edge in so water cannot get beneath the blanket, then seed and staple.

Slopes near the water

Coastal properties in Quincy, Hingham, Duxbury and the Boston waterfront deal with wind and salt as well as rain. On those slopes we lean on fescues that tolerate salt, and on longer-lasting coir blankets that hold up through the winter. Work in or near wetlands or resource areas may need approval from the local conservation commission; your engineer or permit tells us what is allowed, and we work to it.

Timing and follow-up

Slopes do best seeded in late summer or early fall, when cool-season grass establishes fastest and the ground has weeks to root before winter. When a slope has to be covered late in the year, a blanket or BFM at least keeps the soil in place until spring growth. After big storms we check new slopes and repair any rills before they widen.

Slope stabilization on residential lots

Not every erosion problem is on a construction site. Plenty of Greater Boston houses sit on drumlin slopes or have a cut bank behind them from when the driveway or foundation went in. These banks often have thin soil, roots from nearby trees and very little grass. Mowing them is dangerous and seed sprayed without protection slides off. For those spots we often suggest a low-maintenance mix of fescues, sometimes with native grasses, that needs mowing only once or twice a year, covered with a bonded fiber matrix or a blanket. Once it fills in, the bank needs little care and stops dropping soil onto the driveway or patio below.

Hydro mulching rates matter

Two quotes for hydromulch can describe very different jobs. The amount of fiber per acre, the type (wood, paper or a blend) and how much tackifier goes in decide whether the mulch holds through a heavy rain. On slopes we use higher rates and more tackifier, and we write the rate on the estimate so you know what you are paying for. If an engineer's plan sets the rate, we follow it.

Erosion control services after the fact

Sometimes we are called after a slope has already failed: rills cut a foot deep, topsoil piled on a patio, a swale scoured down to stone. The fix starts with filling the cuts with compacted soil, then reshaping the top of the slope so water spreads out instead of concentrating in one spot. Only then do seed and cover go down.

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