The hillside backyard problem

The lot was a textbook Aledo problem: a master-planned community backyard that slanted down to a valley. The original yard was unusable. Too steep for kids to play on, too washed-out to hold grass through a Texas summer, and the slope drained directly toward the house every time it rained.

The family wanted what every Aledo family wants: a yard their kids could actually use. Plus a fire pit area for the parents.

Doing this right meant not just turf. It meant turning the slope into a usable surface, which meant engineering. Specifically, a retaining wall, dirt fill to bring the upper tier up to grade, drainage that routed water away from the house, and only then a turf install on the new flat surface.

Bearcat Turf & Outdoors partnered with Extreme Landscape Construction on this build. Extreme Landscape handled the retaining wall scope, the dirt fill, the grading, and the City of Aledo permits and engineering review. Bearcat scoped and installed the 5,600 SF of Bermuda Pro turf on top of the new tier.

Two weeks on site from first dig to finished install.

What got built

1. Engineered retaining wall (606 sqft facing) by Extreme Landscape Construction

The retaining wall scope was built by Extreme Landscape Construction, a Parker County hardscape contractor we partner with on builds that require engineered wall work, permitted construction, or significant fill logistics. The wall scope included:

157 linear feet of concrete footing with #3 rebar. Where excavation hit solid rock, the rebar was drilled directly into the rock and the footing pour skipped at those spots (the rock is structurally as good as a footing).
Millsap stone retaining wall at approximately 606 sqft of facing. Millsap is a local Parker County limestone with the warm honey-and-buff color palette that ties the wall visually into the native Texas landscape rather than fighting it.
Weep holes every 6 feet with stone backing behind each one. Weep holes are the difference between a retaining wall that lasts 30+ years and one that bows out in year 5. They let groundwater behind the wall escape instead of building hydrostatic pressure against the back face.
5-year displacement warranty on the wall, backed by Extreme Landscape Construction.

2. Dirt fill + grade build

24 truckloads of dirt brought in (plus the dirt excavated from the footings, reused on site) to bring the upper tier up to grade.
3 inches below the top of the wall is the finished grade target. This leaves a clean reveal at the top of the wall, gives the turf a defined edge, and ensures water drains over the wall capstone instead of pooling against the back face.
The old low wall on the west side was taken down where it conflicted with the new grade and re-turned into the new wall structure.

3. Drainage engineering

Slope routed away from the house across the entire upper tier. This is the single most important detail on a hillside install. Get the slope wrong and you have just built a system that funnels water at your foundation every storm.
Side-yard drainage paths sized for the new tier footprint, with weep holes in the wall as the secondary path for groundwater behind the wall.

4. Permits + engineering for the City of Aledo

A retaining wall this size in Aledo requires engineering review and permit approval. Both were handled by Extreme Landscape Construction as part of the wall scope. Standard practice on any permitted hardscape build in Parker County.

5. 5,600 SF of Bermuda Pro turf (Bearcat-installed)

Bermuda Pro across the entire usable surface. 80 oz face weight, 1-3/4” pile, Mini Wave blade, Field/Olive yarn blend over brown thatch. 27 oz 2-layer PU backing, 30 in/hr drain rate, 15-year warranty.
Why Bermuda Pro: TurfHub describes the Bermuda Pro yarn as “one of the strongest yarns on the market.” For a yard where kids will run on it daily, dogs may dig at it, and the surface will see 105F+ summer sun for months at a time, the toughest yarn in the catalog is the right call.
Field + olive two-tone blend reads as living bermuda grass at any viewing distance. From the back patio looking down across 5,600 SF, the install looks like a manicured lawn at peak summer health.

6. Fire pit area

Designed into the new tier so the parents have a defined outdoor-living zone separate from the kids’ play surface. Hardscape coordination handled inside the same 2-week install window.

Why this project matters

Most “before” pictures in artificial turf marketing show a tired, brown lawn that gets replaced with a green one. This project’s before picture shows a slope you could not stand on. The after picture is a flat, kid-usable backyard with a finished retaining wall, an integrated fire pit, and 5,600 square feet of turf.

The difference between this project and a standard turf install is the engineering. Anyone can lay turf. Building a retaining wall that holds back tons of fill dirt for decades requires:

Proper footing depth and rebar
Drilling rebar into bedrock where the soil hits rock
Weep holes at the correct interval
A drainage plan that routes water away from the house instead of toward it
Permits and engineered drawings approved by the City of Aledo

This is the kind of project where the cheap quote ends with a wall that fails in year 5 and a backyard that is unusable a second time. Bearcat does not do wall work in-house at this scope. We partner with Extreme Landscape Construction on permitted hardscape builds so the wall is engineered, permitted, and warrantied properly, and we focus on what we do best: the turf install on top.

What this project costs

Projects at this scope (retaining wall + extensive dirt work + 5,600 SF turf) sit well above standard backyard installs. In 2026 Bearcat-installed pricing:

Line item	Range
Retaining wall (606 sqft facing, footing, weep holes, engineering, permits)	$24,000 to $36,000
Dirt fill + grading (24 loads + grade work)	$3,500 to $5,500
5,600 SF Bermuda Pro turf (install + base + drainage)	$39,200 to $50,400
Fire pit area (hardscape coordination)	$1,500 to $4,000

Total project range: roughly $68,200 to $95,900. Site conditions, finish-stone choice, and excavation difficulty (how much rock the footing hits) move every number.

For a project-specific number, request a site walk and we will scope the wall + dirt + turf + drainage end-to-end. Free anywhere in Parker County and the wider DFW metroplex.

Timeline (2 weeks on site)

Days 1-2: Demo of existing low wall on west side, excavation for footing across 157 linear feet
Days 3-4: Rebar layout and footing pour. Drill into rock where the soil hit it
Days 4-7: Millsap stone retaining wall build, weep holes installed at 6-foot intervals with stone backing
Days 7-9: 24 loads of dirt brought in, grade work to bring upper tier to 3 inches below wall cap. Side-yard drainage paths
Days 9-11: Turf base prep across 5,600 SF (sub-grade, geotextile separator, 4-inch crushed stone, two-lift compaction)
Days 11-13: Turf install, seam work, edging, infill
Day 14: Final cleanup, fire pit area finish, walkthrough with the homeowner

Where this kind of build applies

If your Aledo (or wider DFW) backyard has any of these conditions, the playbook from this project applies directly:

Sloped or hillside lots where the existing yard drains toward the house instead of away
Master-planned community lots with builder grade work that did not account for usable backyard space
Greenbelt-backed lots where the yard meets open space at a steep transition
Property lines that fall away from the house elevation

The fix is the same: retaining wall + engineered fill + drainage + turf, in that order. Done right, you get a flat usable surface with a 15-year turf warranty and a 5-year wall warranty.

Project partners

Extreme Landscape Construction built the engineered retaining wall, handled the City of Aledo permit and engineering review, and managed the dirt fill and grade work. They are the Parker County hardscape contractor we partner with on any backyard build that involves permitted wall construction.
Bearcat Turf & Outdoors scoped and installed the 5,600 SF of Bermuda Pro turf on the new tier, including base prep, drainage routing across the upper surface, edging, and final finish.

What we do at Bearcat

Bearcat Turf & Outdoors is a DFW landscape and outdoor-living contractor based in Aledo, Texas. We handle turf, irrigation, flower beds, hardscapes, paver walkways across the full Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. For engineered retaining walls and permitted hardscape work, we partner with established Parker County hardscape contractors like Extreme Landscape Construction.

Family-owned, woman-owned, HUB Certified by the State of Texas, BBB Accredited, fully insured. 15-year manufacturer warranty on every turf product we install.

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Before

What we started with.

Decades of neglected grass and bare zones. Good bones — pool, sports court, kitchen all in place — but the surface tying it together had been losing the fight for years.