American Excelsior QuickGrass Pro Erosion Control Blanket Landscape Roll - 2-1/2'x50'

I gave it 5 stars because they're too many negative reviews on this very useful product. Yes some of them may be a pain in the ass to onroll but once you get it layed out the benefits are great. It keeps bird from eating seeds. It keeps grass seed moist as long as you water regularly. And straw will disintegrate so you don't have any mess to clean up.

I didn't have the same problems as others. The roll end was painted red, so I had little problem finding it and unrolling it. Unwinding it completely was slow; the roll appeared to be entwined together. I had to continually cut twine to unroll it (minus a star), but entirely manageable. The stakes I received were a-OK. I used a hammer to drive them in. So maybe they wouldn't work in rock hard soil, but neither would any grass seed you'd put down.Yes, this product won't retain moisture in your soil, obviously. I'll water the seeds and matt regularly as I would anytime I start new seeds. There's air gaps to allow sunlight in and grass to grow through so moisture evaporates.So far so good. I'll update this in a couple weeks after I see if it helps with erosion control and germinating seeds.

It helped my lawn to grow.

Bad mistake to buy this product. Very thin layer of 'straw-like' material on clear plastic mesh, (almost) impossible to get off the roll. The product image shown in listing is not what is happening. Gave up after untangling a 10 ft section and threw away the whole pack.

I notice quite a number of negative comment about this product, but I had no problem using it. You do need to be a bit careful when first unrolling it. I found it to be especially useful when reseeding a small hill on our reverse story and a half. I also used it when reseeding a flat spot in our yard, in that it's a reminder not to walk on or mow the reseeded area. The biodegradable posts are nice but not really needed. But if you do use them the yard needs to water in first and one needs to be careful hammering in the posts. I personally like to pick it up several weeks after the new seed is fully growing in well even though it is biodegradable. I simply roll it back up and put it in our lawn recycle bags. It easily rolls up once reseeded area is established if you're careful in pulling it up. Part of this is because our Westie will walk on it and does track some of the fibers in.

I read the reviews and some of the concerns of other buyers so I worked really hard to make this product work. It is hard to unroll but if you take your time and look for the red stripe you can make it work. It did a good job of covering roto-tilled dirt and the grass seed that I spread to remake the front lawn after a very hard winter basically turned the yard into a muddy patch. After installing the bedding I watered this patch religiously each morning but was disappointed that much of the grass seed did not germinate. Then after a few weeks the straw material started to disintegrate and the plastic webbing became very loose. In the end I was not pleased with the results. I believe the straw bedding was too thick to allow much of the seed to germinate from lack of sunlight. Plus now the plastic bedding has to be torn up to mow what little grass did develop. Plus the little green spikes to hold the bedding in place definitely are not biodegradable. I think this product might be more suited for hills or steep inclines but it didn’t work well for me on our flat front lawn.

I've been fighting soil erosion on my banks for years,so I'm optimistic that this product will do the job. Once you prepare your soil and seed this product rolls out easily and has it's own anchors. It's easy to cut for those odd shape's your trying to cover.

Cons: Does not retain water exceptionally well. It rained all yesterday during the day and by the afternoon of today, the topsoil was drying out under the blanket because it is fairly thin. Bottom line: I will have to water at least once a day and probably twice during dry weather.Pros: Does keep the birds off the freshly planted grass seed which has been a problem in the past. Kept my newly-added top soil in place despite heavy rains that would have quickly caused some erosion if left uncovered. Last, had no problem cutting it into sections with kitchen utility scissors to fit the corner of my yard fence.Ultimately, I recommend this covering to ensure successful new grass growth. Just pay attention to requirements for watering to keep soil moist.