Slope & Erosion Control in Salt Lake City, UT

Slope & erosion control is the work of holding bare soil in place on steep ground around Salt Lake City until vegetation can do that job on its own. The valley is ringed by mountains, and many neighborhoods climb onto the old Lake Bonneville terraces along the Wasatch and Oquirrh foothills. When a hillside lot is cut for a house, a retaining wall, a road or a utility, the exposed slope sheds soil with every storm and every windy afternoon. Our erosion control services cover that ground fast with seed plus hydromulch, rolled erosion control blankets or a bonded fiber matrix.

When rain and slope work against you

Airport normals show April as Salt Lake City's wettest month, with about 2.16 inches, and most of the year's precipitation comes with Pacific storms between October and May. In late summer, monsoon thunderstorms are usually scattered, but the ones that do hit can drop a lot of water on a small area quickly. A bare slope that survived a dry July can lose its surface in one August storm. That is why we cover slopes as soon as grading is done instead of waiting for the seeding season.

Hydromulch and hydro mulching

Hydraulic mulch is wood or paper fiber mixed with water, tackifier and usually seed, sprayed onto the slope in a continuous mat. It is fast, follows uneven ground, and needs no one walking on a steep face. On gentle slopes, a standard rate of hydromulch with seed is often enough. As the grade steepens or the runoff above it grows, we increase the rate or move to a heavier product.

Bonded fiber matrix

Bonded fiber matrix (BFM) is a heavier hydraulic product with fiber and binders that form a stronger, more continuous layer once dry. It is used on steeper cut and fill slopes where ordinary hydromulch could slough off, and where blankets would be hard to staple because of rock or the size of the area. It is sprayed in more than one pass to build thickness, and needs dry weather for the binder to set before heavy rain.

Erosion control blankets and straw blankets

Erosion control blankets come in rolls held together by netting and pinned with staples; the fill is straw alone, a straw and coconut fiber blend, or pure coir. They go over seeded soil on slopes, in swales and drainage ditches, and along channels where water flows over the surface. Straw blankets break down within a season or two; coir lasts longer and is used where flow is heavier. The key is installation: the top edge is trenched in, rolls overlap shingle-style, and staples follow the pattern the slope demands. Poorly anchored blankets let water run underneath and do more harm than good.

Swales, ditches and channels

Drainage swales and roadside ditches carry concentrated water, and seed alone will not survive the first runoff. We shape the channel, seed it, and line it with blankets rated for the flow, then tie it into the inlet or outfall so water does not cut around the edge. In the long run, the established grass in the swale filters sediment out of runoff before it reaches a storm drain or one of the creeks feeding the Jordan River.

Choosing a seed for slopes

Slopes facing south and west in the valley bake in summer and often have no irrigation. For those, we lean on native and reclamation grass mixes that can live on natural moisture once established, sometimes with wildflowers. Irrigated slopes next to a lawn can take a turf blend. On steep yards, slope stabilization often combines both: turf on the flatter area people use, and native cover on the bank.

Fixing failures

Some of our slope work is repair. Common problems include rills and gullies cut where water from a roof, driveway or neighboring lot runs over the face, blankets that were laid without a top trench and let water underneath, and mulch sprayed too thin on a steep cut. We trace where the water comes from first, divert or pipe it where needed, regrade the damaged section, and then re-cover it with the right product.

What it costs

One state transportation department's January 2025 erosion-control price list puts hydraulic wood mulch at $98 and straw and coconut blankets at $468, both per 1,000 square feet. HomeGuide adds that a steep slope raises residential hydroseeding by $0.05 to $0.10 a square foot. Bonded fiber matrix gets quoted on site, since rate and passes vary. Get a free estimate