How do you make a boulder or a hillside look natural after it's been broken, scuffed, excavated and/or upended?
Las Vegas-based Soil-Tech can answer that question with its patented solution. Using a chemical called Permeon, sprayed onto
the damaged surfaces of rocks, the company's crews can oxidize boulders and in just weeks take them back thousands of years
so they look like undisturbed rocks nearby.
According to Phyllis Gurgevich, Soil-Tech's Permeon Division Manager, Permeon originally was formulated by an Arizona State
University scientist. Soil-Tech now owns the exclusive license and is making a thriving business out of applying the oxidation
process not only to boulders around the West, but also to highway cuts and other disturbances in the mountains.
In addition, the organic-based, non-caustic chemical also works well on concrete. It also is being applied to other landscaping
features such as retaining walls, sidewalks, bridges and golf cart paths. "It gives a rustic, colored look," Gurgevich says.
Permeon can be applied by everything from backpack sprayers to helicopters. One of the most common methods, especially where
large rock areas have been exposed near roadways, is to use a hydroseeder truck cannon to spray huge swaths.
User friendly
Soil-Tech's Permeon spray can even make out-of-the-box hardscape rocks and concrete look naturally aged.
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No special safety clothing or respirators are required for application personnel. Permeon also is non-toxic to plants. Gurgevich
says that a coating might defoliate plants, but they usually return to good health, and the crews take care to avoid spraying
vegetation.
Before Permeon is applied, the rocks should be clean and free of ice, Gurgevich says. The warmer it is during application,
the more quickly the rocks will oxidize and return to their natural colors. This usually will happen in about two weeks in
warm weather, but can take up to six weeks in cold weather.
Coloration can be varied by changing the rate of application. Depending on the original rock color, hues from gold to black
can be achieved. It usually takes only one coat to mimic the original color, but sometimes a second spraying is necessary
to achieve striations or other variations in color to more closely match natural formations nearby.
Concrete compatible
"In the Las Vegas area alone, we have someone applying Permeon on a daily basis," Gurgevich says. Soil-Tech's Permeon Division
usually acts as a subcontractor to landscape or general construction companies.
Golf courses have become a primary user, and not just on cart paths, Gurgevich points out.
The chemical also has been a boon in salvage areas where plants and the soil surface have been disturbed, or even removed.
Once the area has been revegetated, a contractor will bring in rock mulch or gravel, and Permeon can be sprayed over that
to take away the typical stark, post-construction appearance.
"We've been using it all over the United States, but it's obviously in more demand out in the arid West," Gurgevich says.
— The author is a freelance writer living in Altadena, CA, and has been covering the Green Industry for more than a decade.
Contact him at info@landscapemanagement.net
