Installation Support & Helpful Hints

Follow along with the instructions below to install your EnviroWall™ Blocks. For additional support, a video installation guide is available below.

DESIGN LAYOUT & SITE PREPARATION

Once you have determined where your wall needs to be placed, dig a trench for your base course 8-10inches deep (6 inches for the buried blocks, and an additional 2-4inches below that for your base rock or sand).

BASE COURSE

Fill the bottom 2-4 inches of your trench with crushed rock or sand that can be easily compacted with a tamper or similar tool.
Compact the crushed material, then top with 1-2 inches of sand to help with leveling as you place the block.

PLACEMENT & LEVELING

If using side rails, snap both into receptor slots and secure them prior to setting block. Press until the tabs snap into the receptors.
Place your first row of blocks 9 inches apart. Each side rail can also serve as a 9 inch spacing gauge.
Level each block front to back, side to side.
To assist with leveling, lift the blocks to push some sand underneath, or tap high end into base and and adjust to level.
Continue leveling along the line from one end of the wall to the other. Pin the blocks in place with a wire sod staple to prevent kicking out of positions (optional).

EnviroWall Install Tip TIP: For best results, use longest level possible.

PLACING UNIT BACKFILL

Place compost or blended growing media into the trough of each block (behind the face) and into the space between each block on the course.
Soil movement is prevented by cutting a small piece of filter cloth to lay on the inside bottom of the block prior to placing unit backfill.
Fill the space up to the top of the side rails, and then step on the material to compact it.
Top off the media and step on it again until it is level with the side rails, and then strike it off. Ensure that the top surface is level to allow successful stacking of the next course of block.
Ensure all blocks on each course are completely filled, then backfill and compact the area behind the blocks with fill.

EnviroWall Install Tip TIP: For best results, ensure fill is clean, free of roots, debris, rocks, etc. Or, use limestone or sand.

STACK SUCCESSIVE ROWS

Start your next row, evenly staggering blocks on top of the previous row. Each upper block will rest on the inside rails of two blocks below.
Place the entire row or course of block, backfill, compact, strike off the excess, and repeat to the desired height of the wall.
Backfill and compact the material behind the filled block courses as the layers of the wall are constructed.

REINFORCEMENT STRAPS
(Required for walls over 3-ft tall)

Starting with the second row, place (1) strap through the hole in the back of the blocks, and double back until both ends are even.
Spread the tails about 1-ft apart into a V-shape and backfill on top of the straps.
Compact up to the level of your next course.
Place straps (or geogrids) on every third row, starting with the second row.

EnviroWall Install Tip TIP: In place of straps, standard geogrids are also able to be used, placed on top of the side rails.

CORNERS/CURVES

Straight walls with no curves or corners may be built without the snap-in side rails.
Curves and corners will require the blocks to radiate to manage the wall configuration, causing the block spacing between them to vary.
As the wall is constructed upwards, the inside curves will start with the base blocks nearly touching and will get further apart on each level, and the outside curves will do the opposite.

PLANTING

EnviroWall™ walls and slopes are designed to be planted and grown over. The system is intended to create strong, economical structures that quickly disappear within the natural landscape, able to support a variety of locally appropriate plant species.
The face of the completed system should be brushed off to dislodge any over-filling of the pockets, which would quickly slough off on its own.
Planting must start from the top course and continue down the face of the wall until every pocket is filled with at least one plant.
The planting pocket is designed large, and the fill volume is high, so that each pocket can accommodate multiple small plugs or single larger plugs.
Live plants should be centered in the "sun receiving" area of the pocket (not up under the upper module) and any seeding should be focused on the same area.
Maintenance will be required for the first year to ensure a proper grow-in and low to maintenance thereafter.

HELPFUL HINTS

Get as much soil into the blocks as possible during the wall building phase, but do not over-compact the soil backfill in to the blocks and between, as the roots need to move freely.
Compaction of the backfill rearward of the block column should be more compact and the use of hand tampers and plate compactors will ensure a wall that does not settle backward.
Do not use jumping jacks for compaction behind the wall, as they will shove the installed blocks and create stresses and alignment issues within the wall facing.

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