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Advantages of EssentialSoil™

Because EssentialSoil™ is engineered, use-specific blends formulated for performance, they have many advantages over regular topsoil.

In situations needing erosion or structural soils, the proven attributes of EssentialSoil™ can mean the difference between success and failure on a project.

In planting beds, veggie gardens and lawns, EssentialSoil™ allows ample room for air and water, while maintaining a dense nutrient base and structure.

  • A living soil, rich with beneficial microbial activity
  • Supports rapid, healthy and self-sustaining plant & root growth
  • Can be customized to meet specific site and vegetation needs
  • Can be applied to slopes in deep layers
  • Reduces sediment by 99%-100%
  • Reduces runoff by up to 60%
  • Binds heavy metals, bio-degrades hydro-carbon pollutants
  • Can be applied on slopes up to 70 degrees or more
  • Designed for pneumatic installation
  • Easily tele-conveyed into place
  • Reduces height or eliminates retaining structures
  • Reduces need or eliminates storm and drain systems
  • Bonds to hillsides without netting withstanding weather until vegetation is established
  • Balances water retention and permeability
    • Greater infiltration into the soil
    • Greater evapo-transpiration from healthier plants
  • Soil structure workable in extreme wet conditions, does not compact or turn to mud
  • Oxygen diffuses easily and rapidly into the soil to prevent and remediate anaerobic conditions
  • Beneficial to waterways, shorelines, fish and wildlife

Disadvantages of other materials

Planting Methods

  • Require more up-front maintenance for success of plant material
  • Increase labor costs to install plant materials
  • Lack quality soils and produce weak or sickly plant, which:
    • creates necessity for plant mortality budgeting
    • creates unattractive aesthetics
    • necessitates noxious weed control
    • undermines reputation

Netting

  • Application usually requires a great deal of grade preparation
  • Compaction by heavy equipment hardens soil surface
  • Time/labor intensive
  • Some synthetic netting does not bio-degrade
  • Some synthetics contain toxins harmful to the environment
  • Application causes a permanent hazard to wildlife
  • Wildlife can cause significant damage to the application
  • Can bind or cut into roots creating structural flaws and disease in plants
  • Usually offers only a small decrease in water velocity and runoff

Tackifiers and Sealers

  • Seal the surface shut, cutting off oxygen for plants and microorganisms
  • Application is not a sustainable resource
  • Products can be toxic to the environment

Hydroseeding

  • Not always effective on hard-pan surfaces
  • May take multiple applications
  • Does not prevent erosion or sedimentation until fully established
  • Synthetic fertilizers used by many hydroseeders damage soil microorganisms, the process that develops sustainable plant establishment

Structures

  • Costly and time consuming
  • Lasts only as long as the material from which they are built, and will eventually decompose and necessitate rebuilding of another structure
  • Sometimes require complex drainage and maintenance