Erosion Control Blankets & Straw Mats

To workers laying out straw mat with lake in background

Erosion control blankets and straw mats are used on dunes that have no vegetation or any type of foliage.

Benefit of Service

Erosion control blankets (or straw mats) are installed in order to prevent sand and soil shift and to promote vegetation establishment from plugs or seeds planted into the blankets.

Erosion control blankets can be used on a variety of terrains, from flat surfaces to steep dunes. They are a natural solution to both erosion control and vegetation growth, holding dune sand in place while the seeds and plugs take root.

How Erosion Control Blankets Work

Young dune grass seedling growing from straw mat
Eroding dune to be restored by Lakeshore Customs

Hazard if not Applied

If erosion control blankets are not applied to the face of the dune, the sand is viable to movement and will not be able to root any foliage. Dunes without a stabilization technique in place are susceptible to further erosion, which also harms your vegetation establishment efforts. Before building a new deck, it’s recommended that erosion control and vegetation are in place to prevent this.

Service Overview

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The site is prepared for straw mat installation. All debris, rocks, and roots are removed.

Where the site is steep, trenching is dug to anchor the matting and prevent any movement down the slope. 

Straw blankets are then rolled from the top of the dune down to the bottom and staked into the sand/soil with wooden stakes. Straw wattles may also be installed in conjunction with erosion control blankets.

There are many different types of blankets: some are temporary and some can be permanent until removal is desired.