Landscaping Company in Portland, OR

Landscaping around older Portland homes and big trees

Nearly all of Portland lies in Multnomah County, with small edges in Washington County and Clackamas County. Half of the city's homes were built by 1966, by Census Bureau estimates. In Tualatin, at the center of our service area, that halfway year is 1992. In ZIP 97202, around Sellwood and Eastmoreland, nearly 4 in 10 homes went up before 1940.

Eastmoreland is an early 1900s neighborhood full of trees, and Woodstock was first platted in 1889. On the southwest side, Hayhurst still has small homes on large lots and winding streets without curbs. Collins View is wooded and hilly, with Tryon Creek State Natural Area next door.

Some older yards need a reset first, with new planting beds or a new lawn. Where shade has beaten the grass, artificial turf stays green under the trees. Where the lawn gets enough sun, mowing and four seasonal fertilizer applications keep it in good shape.

Why do southwest Portland yards stay wet all winter?

Much of southwest Portland sits on Cascade silt loam, which USDA soil surveys rate as somewhat poorly drained. About 20 to 30 inches down, it has a fragipan, a dense layer that water moves through slowly. In the wet season, water perches on top of that layer. On a lot like that, a French drain can carry the water to a safe outlet.

Fanno Creek and Tryon Creek both start in these hills. Fanno Creek runs 15 miles to the Tualatin River, the same river that runs past Tualatin. Tryon Creek flows about seven miles from Multnomah Village, through Tryon Creek State Natural Area, to the Willamette. Portland's Clean River Rewards program can lower the stormwater charges for homes that handle roof water on site.

The close-in southeast sits on different ground. Much of Sellwood, Eastmoreland, Reed and Woodstock is flat terrace land on Latourell and Multnomah soils, rated well drained. The Multnomah soils formed in gravelly river deposits, and water moves through them faster than through the hill soils.

Portland permit rules for retaining walls and fences

On Portland's hills, a segmental block retaining wall can turn a slope into a level lawn or a patio. Portland Permitting and Development requires a building permit for a wall over 4 feet tall. The height counts from the bottom of the buried base to the top of the wall. Shorter walls need one too when they sit near a structure or carry the weight of a slope above.

Moving more than 10 cubic yards of earth also takes a building permit. In an environmental overlay zone, even a patio can need a zoning permit. Just outside the city, in Raleigh Hills or Garden Home, Washington County and Clean Water Services set the rules instead. The permit question is settled before work starts.

A cedar privacy fence up to 7 feet tall needs no building permit in Portland. In many zones, a fence in the front setback tops out at 3 and a half feet. Side and rear fences can reach 8 feet, though anything over 7 feet takes a permit. Every part of the fence, including what is underground, has to stay inside the property line.

Leaf season and year-round landscape maintenance in Portland

Portland's Leaf Day zones are the parts of the city with the most mature street trees. In November and December, Portland Bureau of Transportation crews sweep the leaves in those zones. The zones take in parts of Sellwood-Moreland, Eastmoreland, Bridlemile and the Southwest Hills. Only loose leaves go out, raked into the street a day before the zone's date.

Leaf Day clears the street, and the lawn and beds still need a fall cleanup. The fall leaf cleanup and the spring cleanup are part of our program year. The monthly rate stays flat, the same in leaf season as in the quiet winter months.