Below are some other great websites with information on a range of topics related to ‘green’ gardening, and plant care.
Organizations
Leach Botanical Garden is an inviting, restorative urban greenspace in outer SE Portland. The Upper Garden features an entry plaza, aerial tree walk, four-season pollinator garden, and basalt stone sculptural installation. The hillside and lower garden feature native plants, historic Leach plant collections, meandering, wooded trails, and riparian area pathways along Johnson Creek.
Hardy Plant Society is a nonprofit group for beginning to experienced gardeners, focusing mainly on plants that thrive in the Pacific Northwest. See the website for information on their sponsored garden tours of top-notch Portland metro and Clark County gardens, plant and seed sales and workshop offerings.
Association of Northwest Landscape Designers’ (ANLD) is a local design organization that supports landscape designers with programs and networking. The website provides tips on when to hire and how to choose a landscape designer, including a searchable database of local designers.
The Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) is an international trade organization. They are the only organization that offers a landscape design certification. The website explains more about the organization and local events. You’ll also find a searchable database of great landscape designers in Oregon. Amy has been the Legislative Advocate for the Oregon Chapter, protecting the rights of Oregon Landscape Designers to practice their trade.
Sustainability
The Backyard Habitat Certification is a local effort by Audubon Society of Portland and Columbia Land Trust to give homeowners the resources and information needed to remove invasive plants and grow native plants, creating habitat for our native wildlife. Stormwater management and wildlife stewardship are also integral to the program. Amy is a recommended designer with this program.
Clean River Rewards is Portland’s stormwater utility discount program. With Clean River Rewards, Portland ratepayers can save money and work for clean rivers and healthy watersheds at the same time. Plan-it- Earth Design is listed on their technical assistance page as a resource for designing a beautiful solution to your disconnected downspout. BES encourages us to learn how to build and maintain Rain Gardens. Watch their video, How to Build a Rain Garden, on their website.
East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District provides free workshops for the public on topics such as Naturescaping, Native Plants and Rain Gardens. Registration is required. Amy is a presenter for EMSWCD’s Naturescaping series. She is also a recommended designer for them. Be sure to check out their grants for conservation projects and education!
Homegrown National Park®is a grassroots call-to-action to regenerate biodiversity and ecosystem function by planting native plants and creating new ecological networks, co-founded by entomologist and author Douglas Tallamy: “In the past, we have asked one thing of our gardens: that they be pretty. Now they have to support life, sequester carbon, feed pollinators and manage water.” You can find a link to the Tallamy Hub on the site that includes his books, articles, podcasts & webinars. Put your garden on the map! Plan-it Earth Design is listed in their resource directory
This interactive and animated Rain Garden from the good folks at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is a great way to wrap your mind around the concepts of a creating one and why. Play around with it and MAKE SURE to click the little “rain” icon in the upper right corner to put it to work!
Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides is the leading voice for non-toxic pest and weed solutions. They promote safe pest and weed alternatives for the health of people and the environment
Metro is Portland’s regional Tri-County government in charge of urban growth and natural places. Find tools for Home & Garden with lots of tips including their new app Grow Smart Grow Safe with information on the least toxic control of pests and disease.
Trees for Life Oregon is an educational website that is dedicated to preserving and increasing the canopy and health of large-form long-lived trees in Portland, Oregon. They inspire action to protect these trees and the space to plant new large-form trees in new development and street improvements.
Garden Smart Oregon is an online resource for choosing both native and ornamental alternatives to invasive plants in the state
Plants
Blooming Nursery is a wholesale nursery with a great plant finder resource for homeowners. Find great photos, lots of information on plants, what’s blooming now, and plenty of plant lists to download. Check out Blooming Junction, their retail outlet in Cornelius, OR.
Xera Plants is another great local resource of unusual climate adapted plants for the Pacific Northwest. Be sure to visit their seasonal retail outlet on 12th & Clay in SE Portland!
One Green World is the go to website for unusual edible plants, chosen for hardiness and adaptability for the Pacific Northwest. They are a world of information and have online ordering as well as a seasonal retail location in SE Portland. Check their website for location and opening dates.
ProTime Lawn Seed is a local maker of ecology lawn mixes for low water use and less mowing lawn alternatives.
Monrovia Nursery is a local wholesale grower of artisan plants. There is a splendid plant catalog with great photos where you can search their database by various criterion from growing conditions to plant leaf color and more.
Stepables will help you find plants that tolerate various amounts of foot traffic on their searchable database. The company, in Salem, provides photos and information on all of their plants and will point you to local outlets to purchase them.
Little Prince of Oregon is a wholesale nursery that supplies native plants, ground covers, ferns, ornamental grasses, sedums, living wall modules and more to retail nurseries all over the Portland Metro region. Find information about their plants and where to purchase them.
Great Plant Picks is an educational program of the Elisabeth C. Miller Botanical Garden in Seattle with a comprehensive palette of over 900 exceptional plants selected for gardeners living west of the Cascade Mountains from Eugene, Oregon, USA to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The Portland Plant List is a great resource for native plants organized by habitat and grouped with native plants that naturally grow together. Other downloadable lists on this page include nuisance plants and invasive plants that require eradication.
The American Conifer Society has a database of conifers, a photo gallery to help you identify or choose conifers for your landscape and tips for caring for conifers.
Earthfort provides soil testing services that reflect not only soil chemistry, but the all important soil biology that results in happy plants. Try their products Soil ProVide and Soil ReVive to jumpstart your new planting areas, with the addition of compost.
