Landscaping Company in Clackamas, OR

A Landscaping Company for Clackamas Yards From the 1990s

About 7 in 10 homes in ZIP 97015 were built from 1980 to 2009, Census estimates show. Fewer than 1 in 12 was built before 1970. In yards that age, hedges reach past the windows and big trees shade the lawn. Bark dust, the shredded bark mulch Northwest yards use, thins out and lets weeds through.

Our maintenance program covers mowing, edging, debris pickup and trimming of shrubs and small trees below six feet. Anything taller is quoted separately. Four seasonal lawn fertilizer applications and weeding of the beds are part of it too. The monthly rate stays flat all 12 months, with no signed contract.

The Clackamas County chapter of the Oregon Master Gardeners publishes a lawn care handout with OSU Extension. It says to mow at least weekly from March through October, and monthly the rest of the year. Fall leaf cleanup and spring cleanup are part of our program year.

Why Do Clackamas Lawns Stay Wet All Winter?

NOAA's weather station in Oregon City, a few miles south, averages about 45 inches of rain a year. At Portland's airport, nearly 9 of every 10 inches fall from October to May. The soil under a Clackamas yard decides where that water goes.

East of I-205 along Sunnyside Road, soil maps show mostly Cascade and Powell silt loams. The USDA rates both somewhat poorly drained. Each has a fragipan, a dense layer 15 to 30 inches down that water moves through slowly. In Cascade soils, winter water perches on top of it.

Toward the Clackamas River, the most common soil is Clackamas silt loam, first described in the county's 1921 soil survey. In a normal year, its water table rises to within 6 to 18 inches of the surface. In low ground west of I-205, Cove and Wapato silty clay loams hold winter water near the surface.

Where the water has nowhere to go, the lawn holds puddles and grows moss. A French drain or a regrade gives it a path away from the house. OSU Extension's moss guide points to drainage fixes as well, like a surface slope or a catch basin.

County Rules for Retaining Walls and Patios in Clackamas

Clackamas is not a city. It is an unincorporated community, so Clackamas County issues the building permits, from its Building Codes Division in Oregon City. Even Clackamas Town Center, with its Happy Valley mailing address, sits in the unincorporated county. The county's online map, CMap, shows whether a lot is inside a city.

Around Mount Talbert, a volcanic butte between I-205 and Happy Valley, some lots sit on real slopes. There, a segmental block retaining wall can turn part of a hillside into level ground. Segmental block is the interlocking concrete block these walls are built from. Oregon's residential code requires a building permit for a wall over 4 feet, counted from the bottom of its base.

The county zoning code sets patio setbacks too. An uncovered patio up to 30 inches high must sit at least 10 feet from front and rear lot lines. The side setback is 3 feet, unless the zone allows less. We plan a paver patio around those lines from the start.

Sprinkler Systems and Summer Water in Clackamas

Clackamas River Water serves parts of Clackamas, and those customers get water from the Clackamas River. The district says summer demand doubles or triples because of outdoor watering. From mid-August to early October, the river's providers ask customers to cut back lawn watering for salmon.

The Master Gardener handout notes that most lawns left to go brown green up again with fall rain. For a lawn you want green all summer, a new sprinkler system waters on a schedule. A smart controller and a rain sensor keep it from running when the lawn is already wet.

Clackamas River Water lists lawn sprinkler systems among the cross connections that call for a backflow assembly. Oregon law requires a state certified tester to test each assembly at least once a year. We install the backflow assembly on every new system, and the tester handles the yearly test.