Slopes, Paths, and Waterways

Lake Oswego, Oregon

Beautiful as it was, this property was only accessible from an easement through the neighbor’s driveway, with very little space for visitor’s parking. Meanwhile, getting to the mailbox required a hike of almost a quarter mile! The front slope was overgrown with “widow maker” branches hanging in the air and invasive ivy and blackberry getting a strong foothold across the entire slope.

With a bit of pruning & invasive removal, some shuffling of the existing downed trees, and the inclusion of “restoration juniper” timbers, we were able to regrade the space and generate accessibity to a whole new sector of the landscape. And now visiting friends parking on the road near the mailbox have a fun new route to gain access to the home, and the daily path to get the mail invites alluring side-quests through the wilderness-turned-habitat garden.

The slopes here clearly articulate they are full of water. Suckering cottonwood and prolific willow + alder sprouts make it fairly obvious. We cut in a water conveyance terrace / pathway to drain excess water away from the home down slope and to enhance the accesibility of the space. With just a bit of searching under the ivy, we found a distinct culprit of extra water as well. Pipes from the neighbor’s driveway and upper slope commons were draining mass amounts of water into this section of the hill, eroding soils and sublimating underground quickly. We altered the flow slightly and created armored spillways with retention basins to slow the flow and make best use of the precious resource so many people choose to drain away.

Existing downed trees were shifted to create viewpoints and a rustic “patio” of sorts within the forest.

The entire hillside was seeded with a very diverse set of locally native plants. Fingers crossed, flower pictures forthcoming!

OR LCB #9872; WA# Earthel843J2

858.774.7900