In Your Yard

May 05 2020

2020 EMSWCD Yard Tour

Each year, our friends at East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District (EMSWCD) host a yard tour to showcase yards that support clean rivers and healthy wildlife. This year, the yard tour is going online!

A naturescaped yard with flowering Pacific Bleeding Heart, Redwood Sorrel and Wild Ginger.

Instead of our usual yard-visiting tour, EMSWCD is offering you all a chance to show us what’s going on in your landscapes. Share what environmentally-friendly practices and projects you are working on, see what others are doing in their space and get inspired to learn more.

The EMSWCD Virtual Yard Tour is a great opportunity to both share and explore creative naturescaped yards and gardens – all from the comfort of your home!

Browse through galleries of naturescaped yards here!

For example, you can share pictures and thoughts on:

  • Native plants as they start to leaf out and flower
  • How you’ve grouped your plants using “right plant, right place” (for example: sun-loving
    plants in sunny spots and water-loving plants in wet areas)
  • How you have created multiple canopy layers (trees, shrubs, groundcovers)
  • Rain gardens or other creative stormwater solutions
  • Ways you’re creating habitat for pollinators and other wildlife
  • Birdhouses or water features that invite birds to your yard
  • Natural ways you build healthy soil and get rid of pests without using synthetic fertilizers, herbicides or other pesticides
  • Lessons and tips you learned from our free workshops
  • Weeds and invasive plants you are working to remove without the use of synthetic chemicals
  • Stormwater issues such as flooding and erosion

Here’s how you can join in:

Red Flowering Currant blooming in a backyard.
  1. Connect with us via one or all of our social media pages:
  2. Share photos, thoughts and comments as often as you like! (Please keep posts related to Multnomah County, Oregon and EMSWCD’s mission to help people care for land and water)
  3. If you have any questions about how to participate or about using social media, please contact us! You can reach Alex at alex@emswcd.org.

We are so excited to see everything you’re doing! So, don’t be shy – let’s share some landscaping joy with each other. This is an ongoing event; staff will be actively engaging with this online platform while the statewide Stay at Home Order is in effect, at least through June.

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May 05 2020

Native Plant Sales in 2020

Want to go native in your yard? Create a natural landscape that needs less water, fewer chemicals, and is resistant to pests and diseases. Native plants also attract birds, butterflies and beneficial wildlife to your yard while reducing erosion and protecting water quality.

Washington County residents browsing a collection of native plants.

Check out this Native Plant Finder to find the best plants for your landscape. Then, visit a local native plant sale to get started:

Thank you to Clean Water Services for sharing this blog post.

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