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Erosion control and slope protection in Evergreen, Colorado

When water has no choice but to run downhill, the slope takes the hit. We protect it with rock, erosion control blankets, wattles and revegetation, designed and engineered for your site.

Call 303-276-4500 Text a photo of the slope

Erosion control blanket being installed over a seeded slope beside a mountain driveway in Conifer, Colorado — Installing erosion control blanket over a seeded slope, Conifer, CO.

Which slopes need protecting

The ones that erode easily, and the ones under the direct influence of drainage: slopes that will receive runoff, or where water is channeled and has nowhere to go but downhill.

There are many ways to go about it. As with any challenge, proper design and engineering is the best approach.

Drainage first, then the slope

The first step is controlling the water on the driving surface. Once that water is directed to specific spots, those spots have to be protected.

Skip that second step, and the slopes receiving the water erode even faster than before. That's why we treat drainage and erosion control as one job, not two.

How we protect an eroding slope

On slopes that will erode easily, revegetation is the long-term fix. The blanket protects the slope while the seed takes hold.

Organic soil base
A base layer of organic soil, so the seed has the right conditions to germinate.
The right seed mix
Chosen for the site conditions, which vary across the Front Range, and for the result you want: green grass or a native mix with wildflowers.
Seeding
Hand spread and raked in, or applied with a hydroseeder, depending on the slope and the size of the area.
Erosion control blanket
Blankets that completely cover the hillside, protecting the seed and holding the soil while it germinates. They break down over time.
Watering
Proper watering during germination is very important. It's what turns seed into a slope that holds.

What a protected slope can become

Slope below a mountain driveway covered in green native grass and wildflowers, including orange poppies and pink cosmos, among granite boulders, grown from hydroseeding in Conifer, Colorado — Native grass and wildflowers we hydroseeded on the downhill side of a driveway, Conifer, CO. Erosion control done right doesn't just hold the slope; it can make it one of the best-looking parts of the property.

Other ways we control erosion

Riprap-lined drainage channel through a ponderosa pine hillside with erosion control blanket covering both banks in Conifer, Colorado — Riprap channel with blanket on both banks, Conifer, CO.

Rock and riprap

Where water is channeled, rock armors the ground so fast water can't cut it away.

Steep slope below a mountain driveway grown in with green grass from hydroseeding, with a straw wattle along the base and rock along the driveway edge in Conifer, Colorado — Hydroseeded slope taking hold, with a straw wattle along the base, Conifer, CO.

Straw wattles

Long tubes of straw-like material placed in drainages to slow the water before it ruts the hillside.

White Ford F-350 dually truck towing a hydroseeder trailer on a dirt mountain road with pine-covered hills behind — Our truck with a hydroseeder, ready for a mountain job.

Hydroseeding

Seed sprayed on in a slurry, a practical way to cover larger or steeper slopes evenly.

From bare slope to growing cover

Erosion control blanket freshly installed on a slope beside a graded mountain road in Conifer, Colorado — Blanket freshly installed to hold a slope, Conifer, CO.

Slope covered in erosion control blanket with wildflower and native grass seed growing, beside a graded mountain road in Conifer, Colorado — Native grass and wildflowers growing through the blanket, Conifer, CO.

Finished graded mountain road through ponderosa pines with erosion control blanket along the slope edge beside a creek in Conifer, Colorado — Finished road with the slope edge protected, Conifer, CO.

Erosion control questions

Do you do hydroseeding?

Yes. Depending on the slope and the size of the area, we either hand spread and rake in the seed or apply it with a hydroseeder.

What kind of seed do you use?

It depends on the site and what you want. Conditions vary across the Front Range, so the seed mix is chosen for your slope. Some people want green grass; others want a native mix with wildflowers.

Does the erosion control blanket have to be removed?

No. The blankets break down over time, after they've protected the seed and held the soil while it germinates.

Why fix the drainage before the slope?

Because slopes erode fastest where water is directed at them. We control the water on the driveway first, then protect the spots where that water goes.

Got a slope that's washing away?

Text a few photos of the slope and where the water comes from, and we will tell you what to expect.

303-276-4500

Monday to Friday, 7 am to 4 pm
info@evergreendriveway.com

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