The document details the expansion of Christ the King Cathedral School in Lubbock, Texas, which necessitated relocating a practice football field and ensuring quick vegetation growth on a newly graded site. John Wanjura from the USDA designed the project, utilizing North American Green's Hydracm hydromulch to prevent erosion and support vegetation establishment, which performed successfully despite initial application errors and heavy rainfall. The results showed rapid grass growth and cost savings compared to traditional sod, with positive feedback from the installation contractor.

1. North American Green HydraCM Quickens Vegetation Growth
Background
For Christ the King Cathedral School
in Lubbock, Texas, expansion was a
necessity. With the school
incorporating K-12 classes, the school
grounds required additional building
space. One construction project
required the relocation of the practice
football field to make way for the
school expansion.
Problem
The project site was being built from
scratch on a site near the school that
had previously been an open pasture.
With limited time before the fall football
season, the practice field needed to be
completed and fully vegetated within a
few months.
Selecting the correct products to
control erosion and aid in vegetation
reestablishment would be essential to
the success of this project. As a
community volunteer John Wanjura
with the USDA assisted in the design
of the football field project.
Solution
The top 6-8 inches of silt loam soil were prepared and leveled with the use of a
Grader/Maintainer. Herbicides were then used on the field to kill off any remaining
unwanted vegetation. Soon after the site grading was complete, the irrigation
system was installed followed by top soil preparations. The difficult part of
reestablishing dense vegetation on the field was then addressed. After conferring
with other engineers at the USDA, Wanjura decided that the use of a hydromulch
was needed to prevent soil erosion and to aid in vegetation establishment. North
American Green’s HydraCM hydromulch was evaluated based on several of its
performance properties. The proprietary blend of straw, reclaimed cotton plant
material, tackifiers and polymers of the HydraCM allows for high moisture and soil
retention. The HydraCM mulch was applied on Memorial Day 2008 with a Bermuda
seed mix along with a blend of fertilizers.
Establishing Vegetation with HydraCM on a
Sports Field Application
CASE
STUDY
Volume 11
Number 3
14649 Highway 41 North
Evansville, Indiana 47725
812-867-6632 1-800-772-2040
FAX 812-867-0247
www.nagreen.com Updated 10/2008
View of the fully established football field six
weeks after application of HydraCM

2. Project Concerns
Several issues during the project created
concerns with how effective the project results
would be. During mulch application, HydraCM
mulch was mistakenly applied at a rate of
2500 lbs/acre instead of the recommended
3000 lbs/acre leading to concerns on how the
mulch would perform. Also, just 2 days after
the mulch application, the project site
received 2-3 inches of rain, followed a week
later by another heavy rain.
Results
Even with all the rain, HydraCM held its
ground, and no signs of erosion or rilling
occurred. Within days, the vegetation was
growing, and by the end of week two the field
could handle mowing. Ashton Walden with
Ashton Walden Landscaping, the installation
contractor, was pleasantly surprised by the
performance of HydraCM. “I had not used
HydraCM mulch before. In the past I have
only used wood mulches. I was skeptical on
not adding more tackifier to the mix. With
other wood mulches with tackifier I always
needed to add more tackifier, but this
[HydraCM] didn’t need it.” Walden was also
pleased with how it sprayed, and claimed he
would use it again. Wanjura believed that the
HydraCM mulch aided with the establishment
of the grass. “We have planted in the same
area before with seed alone and it took 5-6
months before the stand was established
enough to be mowed.” In addition to quick
vegetation establishment, the use of the
HydraCM mulch and seed was at least 5-10
times less expensive than placing sod.
0
1
2
3
4
5
RelativeExpense
HydraCM Sod
Cost Savings with HydraCM
For more information on this project, contact North American Green at 800-772-2040
14649 Hwy 41 North • Evansville, IN 47725 • 800-772-2040 • 812-867-6632 • Fax: 812-867-0247
www.nagreen.com • www.vmax3.com
The quick establishment of the vegetation can be
seen in the weekly progression (above).