Terraced Boulder Retaining Walls and Steps Underway in Hopkins

Here's what we were working with on this Hopkins property - a steep, overgrown backyard slope with old stacked stone walls that had seen better days. The grade change between the upper and lower portions of the yard made it awkward to use, and navigating that drop without a proper set of steps wasn't exactly easy or safe. It needed a complete rethink from the ground up.

The plan is to pull all of that out and replace it with terraced boulder retaining walls and a set of boulder sawn steps that create a clean, natural-feeling transition from the upper yard down to the lower level. The terracing approach solves two problems at once - it holds the slope in place and creates actual usable flat space up top that wasn't there before.

Getting to that point takes real groundwork first. We brought in our Kubota mini excavator and Bobcat T630 track loader to clear the old walls and vegetation, then start cutting into the hillside to establish the terrace grades. Working a sloped site like this takes some patience - you have to think ahead about how each cut affects the next level and where the material needs to go.

With the land clearing and excavation phase moving along, you can see the hillside starting to take shape. The bench cuts are beginning to define where each terrace wall will sit. Once the grading is dialed in, the boulders come in and get set into place to hold those grades permanently. That's when it really starts to look like something.

This kind of project is a great example of what thoughtful excavation and grading can do for a property that has a tough slope to deal with. It's not just about holding dirt back - it's about turning a liability into usable, good-looking outdoor space that holds up for the long haul.