our link for ... how to install BioFence - the biodegradable choice for silt control....

Installation Instructions

These are our representative photographs of how to install BioFence. If you still have difficulty installing the product, please feel free to contact us directly.

We may be reached at 508-763-5253 by phone

Step 1: The BioFence is delivered to you in a 50' roll with it's own stakes included. A single roll of BioFence (42 pounds!) equals 17 hay bales, 41 stakes, 50' of black plastic silt fence (weighing 1109 pounds!), and about 5x less manhours to install......
Step 2: Untie/cut the holding string of the BioFence roll.... Visit or call us to learn more about BioFence. Once you use it it is likely that you will return to using it again and again! Find out for yourself why it is the 1999 EPA award winner for innovation in Environmental Technology. Why let your profits erode away ?
Step 3: Unwind the roll along the edge of wetlands you desire to protect. Make sure the points of the stakes (IMPORTANT) are directed to the uplands side of the fence. Note - this means the stake points are directed away from the swamp or wetland areas. Additional items to note to insure you have the right side of the fence erected is that the letteriug on the fence (stenciling such as BioFence, our phone number, etc....) faces the uplands, or note that the fiber portion of the fence is also directed to the uplands.
Step 4: Stand the fence upright, and hold the post. Make sure that the bottom placement of the stake insures that the material between the stakes will be stretched tauntly before pounding the stake in. The loop of burlap composite that holds the stake may need to be keep loose, as as one drives the stake into the ground, one may need to insure that the materials rides loosely on the stake for later adjustment. This innocent step is often the difference between a neatly installed fence and a sloppy looking one..... One needs to insure the burlap composite rides evenly on the stakes during the process of pounding it in place, and also one needs to insure that the next stake draws the materials between stakes extremely tight before pounding in the next stake. ERc often starts pounding the next stake at a slight angle, gradually straightening the stake as pounding it in......
Step 5: Use a sledge hammer (5 lb hammer in soft soils, 10 lbs. or greater in hard soils) to drive the stake in. In extremely hard soils (i.e. highway side slope areas), compacted soils may require pre-drilling to intall the stake correctly to the right depth.....A one (1") inch ship auger bit attached to a gas powered drill is a nice tool to pre-drill stake holes in hard soils....
Step 6: Make sure to drive the stake to the proper depth. When the burlap composite materials is stretched evenly along the stake length and the bottom of the burlap composite above the flap section touches the ground, the stake has been driven to the proper depth. In general, BioFence is shipped with 42" stakes for all-around soil conditions - this means the stake should be driven a minimum of 12". In soft soil conditions, upon request, BioFence is shipped with its longer 48" stakes, meaning a 18" driving depth is required.
Step 7: Continue the driving in of the stakes, each 50' of BioFence should take one person about 5-10 miniutes to install. Evan before final trim of the drawstring, BioFence shows its aesthetics as seen in this picture....
Step 8: To initiate the trimming of the BioFence for its final aesthetic appearance, first slit the top of the stake with a hatchet or small ax. Stretch the drawstring taut, and insert it's length into the slit......
Step 8: After making sure the drawstring has tighten the burlap composite backing with its insertion in the slit, secure the tautness by stapling the top edge of the burlap composite backing over the top of the stake sealing the drawstring into the slit and creating an even and level appearance to the top of the BioFence....
Step 9: Traditionally, a silt fence was secured along its bottom edge by inserting a bottom flap of the silt fence into a trench. Please see our article "Is it time to re-think trenching?" on our Stories of the Month web page to get our opinion on the subject. BioFence was designed to allow the old-fashioned "trench-it-into-place" method.......
Step 10: or our preferred method of stapling BioFence's special 6" bottom flap to the undulating ground surface.....
Step 11: When installed correctly, the top edge should be level and uniform, no top of stakes showing, and the bottom sealed tightly along the contours of the land.......The fiber section replacing the hay bales will swell out eventually after the roll uncompresses, and one will then have a complete unit with the fiber replacing the weed invasive hay bales, the burlap composite replacing the black plasticsilt fence, the stakes secure in their own pockets, and a totally aesthetic product that means less labor to install, costs less in materials, and will biodegrade in place meaning no later messy removal.....
Step 12: Installed correctly, BioFence offers a 17-20% increase over the old-fashioned way of installing silt fences. BioFence stops silt "dead in its tracks". Buy some today and see for yourself..... Call 1-800-7WETLAND to order.
Step 13: BioFence is far superior to the old method. There is no toxicity associated with BioFence, no plastics from the Far East, no weed invasion along wetland edges from hay bales, no 20-50 year degradation period for plastic silt fences. BioFence is aesthetic looking, has no disposal cost after installation, and offers a 60% savings in materials over this tradtional silt fence/hay bale combo along with a 5X savings in labor......
Step 14: BioFence will begin to degrade in 1-1.25 years........
Step 15: .... and totally degrades in two years. Union labor estimates indicate that in labor costs alone in removing hay bales from sites after the project or in bringing silt-laden and heavy black plastic silt fences to dumpsters and landfills justify using BioFence alone.....