Before and after, by type of garden

Five yards we rebuilt, photographed from the same spot before the work and after the plants filled in. Drag the line on each photo to compare.

A front yard that drinks the porch roof

Rain gardensWoodstock, Southeast Portland

Before: a patchy, mossy front lawn with a puddle where the downspout empties, in front of a green Craftsman bungalow

After: the same front yard as a rain garden with sword ferns, sedges, red-twig dogwood, a vine maple in fall color, river rock and a basalt path

The downspout used to empty onto a splash block and flood the lawn every November. Now a copper rain chain feeds a rock channel and a 140 sq ft rain garden, 14 feet from the house.

Project details

Rain garden: 140 sq ft
Roof draining to it: 1,350 sq ft
Native planting: 610 sq ft
Crew time: 7 working days
Cost: $14,600
Built: September 2025

What we did

Infiltration test in two spots before the design
Downspout disconnected into a copper rain chain and a rock-lined channel
Basin dug 12 inches deep in compost-amended soil, overflow lined with river rock
Lawn removed and replanted with natives
Basalt flagstone path set on a gravel base

Main plants

Sword fern Polystichum munitum
Slough sedge Carex obnupta
Red-twig dogwood Cornus sericea
Vine maple Acer circinatum
Oregon grape Mahonia aquifolium
Kinnikinnick Arctostaphylos uva-ursi

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900 square feet of lawn, now camas and fescue

Native lawnsConcordia, Northeast Portland

Before: a flat, sun-browned lawn and a straight concrete walk in front of a gray-blue ranch house

After: the same yard planted with blue camas, purple Oregon iris, fescue tufts, yarrow and Oregon grape along a gravel path

The lawn went brown every August and needed mowing every week the rest of the year. We stripped the sod, kept the soil and planted a low native meadow that gets watered twice a month in summer.

Project details

Lawn replaced: 900 sq ft
Plants: 540
Crew time: 6 working days
Cost: $11,900
Planted: October 2024
Photographed: May 2026

What we did

Sod cut and composted, soil loosened and kept in place
Low mounds and a shallow swale to hold winter rain
Crushed basalt path with flat stepping stones
Planting strip replanted with low natives
Drip line through the first two summers

Main plants

Roemer's fescue Festuca roemeri
Common camas Camassia quamash
Oregon iris Iris tenax
Yarrow Achillea millefolium
Red-flowering currant Ribes sanguineum
Beach strawberry Fragaria chiloensis

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A dry patio under a hundred-year-old fir

PatiosHillsdale, Southwest Portland

Before: bare, muddy ground and moss under a large Douglas fir, a cracked slab with a rusty grill and ivy on the fence

After: a permeable paver patio with a curved seat wall, a steel fire bowl and two wooden chairs under the same fir, ferns around the edges

Under the fir, nothing grew and the ground turned to mud from November to May. We built a permeable paver patio that lets the rain soak through its joints, with a curved seat wall and room for a fire bowl.

Project details

Patio: 320 sq ft
Seat wall: 24 linear ft
Crew time: 5 working days
Cost: $13,400
Built: July 2025

What we did

Base dug by hand inside the fir's drip line, largest roots bridged
Permeable pavers on open-graded stone, joints filled with chip gravel
Curved seat wall in charcoal wall block
Ferns, salal and Oregon grape planted around the edges
Old slab broken out and recycled

Main plants

Sword fern Polystichum munitum
Deer fern Blechnum spicant
Salal Gaultheria shallon
Oregon grape Mahonia aquifolium

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Blackberries out, tomatoes in

Raised bedsSellwood, Southeast Portland

Before: a side yard overgrown with blackberry brambles and weeds, a broken wheelbarrow and a pile of old lumber

After: four cedar raised beds full of tomatoes, kale, chard and zucchini, gravel paths and a bean trellis in the same side yard

The sunniest strip of the lot was lost to Himalayan blackberry. We dug the canes out by the root, laid gravel paths and built four cedar beds on a drip timer.

Project details

Beds: Four, 4 by 10 ft
Height: 18 inches
Crew time: 4 working days
Cost: $7,450
Built: April 2025

What we did

Blackberry canes cut and root crowns dug out, two follow-up visits
Western red cedar beds filled with a vegetable soil blend
Drip lines on a battery timer, one zone per bed
Crushed gravel paths, 3 feet wide for a wheelbarrow
Cedar trellis and potting bench

Main plants

The first summer brought tomatoes, kale, chard, zucchini, pole beans and basil, with marigolds along the edges.

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Ivy off the firs, ferns back on the slope

Shade gardensWillamette Heights, Northwest Portland

Before: a slope under tall firs smothered in English ivy, ivy climbing the trunks and a muddy path with rotting steps

After: the same slope with sword ferns, moss, a nurse log, basalt steps and a cedar handrail under the firs

English ivy had climbed every trunk, and the path down to the house washed out each winter. We pulled the ivy, set basalt steps into the slope and replanted the understory with natives that hold the soil.

Project details

Slope: 1,100 sq ft
Steps: 14 basalt steps
Crew time: 8 working days
Cost: $16,200
Built: October 2025

What we did

Ivy cut at shoulder height on every trunk, then pulled from the ground
Basalt steps set on compacted gravel, peeled cedar handrail
Jute netting on the bare soil until the plants filled in
Fallen fir log kept as a nurse log
Three follow-up visits to pull ivy regrowth

Main plants

Sword fern Polystichum munitum
Deer fern Blechnum spicant
Salal Gaultheria shallon
Dwarf Oregon grape Mahonia nervosa
Vine maple Acer circinatum
Redwood sorrel Oxalis oregana

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