Halawa’s Tire Wall Stops Erosion, Clears Way For Native Plants
About 15 volunteers from Engineers Without Borders, Friends of Halawa Xeriscape Garden and Board of Water Supply joined forces March 8 to continue building a tire wall designed to prevent erosion on the upper hill of Halawa Xeriscape Garden.
“We had a lot of erosion going on in that part of the hill,” explained BWS community relations specialist Diane Moses. “We were trying to restore the garden, and this is one way to control the erosion at minimal cost.”
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The wall is being constructed by staggering the tires, which were donated by American Tire Company, and compacting them with soil. Inside the tire holes, the volunteers will place native plants.
Moses explained that the tire wall is an alternative option to a tile or rock wall – both of which would have been more expensive.
The project also was designed with another benefit in mind – to repurpose tires in an effort to keep them out of the landfill.
When completed, the wall will contain approximately 200 tires.
The wall occupies an area that soon will be home to a number of native and endangered plant species as a part of Halawa
Xeriscape Garden’s ongoing restoration efforts. The area is known as the Green Lanai, which also houses an aquaponics system, a rain barrel and a worm bin.
Halawa Xeriscape Garden soon will begin hosting workshops in this area.
Moses anticipated that the group would need at least two more Saturday workdays to complete the wall.
“It is something other people can easily do,” Moses noted.
