Sun City Slopes Erosion Control
Sun City Slopes Erosion Control
Sun City Slopes Erosion Control
When a 4-acre El Paso hillside development lost its topsoil to flash flooding, the developer needed fast, drought-tolerant erosion control before monsoon season hit the exposed slopes.
When a 4-acre El Paso hillside development lost its topsoil to flash flooding, the developer needed fast, drought-tolerant erosion control before monsoon season hit the exposed slopes.
When a 4-acre El Paso hillside development lost its topsoil to flash flooding, the developer needed fast, drought-tolerant erosion control before monsoon season hit the exposed slopes.
The Challenge
Steep grades, caliche soil, and extreme heat made traditional seeding unreliable, with monsoon season just six weeks away.
Steep grades, caliche soil, and extreme heat made traditional seeding unreliable, with monsoon season just six weeks away.
Steep grades, caliche soil, and extreme heat made traditional seeding unreliable, with monsoon season just six weeks away.
We began with a full site assessment, testing soil composition and mapping drainage patterns across the sloped terrain. Given El Paso's alkaline, compacted caliche soil, we selected a custom seed blend of native Chihuahuan Desert grasses — blue grama, sideoats grama, and buffalograss — mixed with a bonded fiber matrix designed to hold on grades up to 3:1.
Application was completed in two phases to work around equipment access on the steepest sections, using hydraulic hose lines to reach terrain our trucks couldn't drive onto directly. We also installed silt fencing along the lower boundary to control runoff during establishment. Within three weeks, germination was visible across 95% of the treated area, and the site held through its first monsoon rains without significant erosion.
The finished slopes now feature self-sustaining native ground cover requiring minimal irrigation, cutting the client's long-term landscaping costs while meeting the county's erosion control requirements ahead of deadline.
We began with a full site assessment, testing soil composition and mapping drainage patterns across the sloped terrain. Given El Paso's alkaline, compacted caliche soil, we selected a custom seed blend of native Chihuahuan Desert grasses — blue grama, sideoats grama, and buffalograss — mixed with a bonded fiber matrix designed to hold on grades up to 3:1.
Application was completed in two phases to work around equipment access on the steepest sections, using hydraulic hose lines to reach terrain our trucks couldn't drive onto directly. We also installed silt fencing along the lower boundary to control runoff during establishment. Within three weeks, germination was visible across 95% of the treated area, and the site held through its first monsoon rains without significant erosion.
The finished slopes now feature self-sustaining native ground cover requiring minimal irrigation, cutting the client's long-term landscaping costs while meeting the county's erosion control requirements ahead of deadline.
We began with a full site assessment, testing soil composition and mapping drainage patterns across the sloped terrain. Given El Paso's alkaline, compacted caliche soil, we selected a custom seed blend of native Chihuahuan Desert grasses — blue grama, sideoats grama, and buffalograss — mixed with a bonded fiber matrix designed to hold on grades up to 3:1.
Application was completed in two phases to work around equipment access on the steepest sections, using hydraulic hose lines to reach terrain our trucks couldn't drive onto directly. We also installed silt fencing along the lower boundary to control runoff during establishment. Within three weeks, germination was visible across 95% of the treated area, and the site held through its first monsoon rains without significant erosion.
The finished slopes now feature self-sustaining native ground cover requiring minimal irrigation, cutting the client's long-term landscaping costs while meeting the county's erosion control requirements ahead of deadline.