Naturescaping
The town of Blue River has seen many recovery milestones in recent years, and if you’ve looked closely, you might have noticed that several rebuilt properties have one thing in common – a “naturescaped” yard. Naturescaping is the term coined by ecologists and landscape architects to describe a practice of landscaping that is beautiful and cares for our non-human neighbors. It promotes pollinator-friendly habitats and river health while also incorporating Firewise practices that make homes more resilient to wildfire. And it’s not just happening in Blue River; residents across the McKenzie Valley are adopting similar practices.
One of the driving forces behind this trend is the Pure Water Partners’ (PWP) Naturescaping program. The PWP is a collaborative effort between the McKenzie Watershed Council, EWEB, and the Upper Willamette Soil and Water Conservation District working to safeguard the health and water quality of the McKenzie River.
“We were getting so many landowners signing up for our program who really wanted to do something for the watershed, but whose properties weren’t big enough to warrant a full scale restoration project. So we created naturescaping – a program under the umbrella of the PWP that could help more people in the valley who wanted to be good stewards,” says Nancy Toth, a Senior Environmental Specialist in Drinking Water Source Protection with EWEB. Following the Holiday Farm Fire, the PWP added a fire-resilient landscaping component into the program.
Several years ago, the McKenzie Watershed Council recruited two interns from the University of Oregon’s Landscape Architecture program through a studio course focused on the challenges landowners faced after the Holiday Farm Fire. In partnership with Pure Water Partners, students developed fire-resistant landscape design guides to help residents rebuild safer, more resilient properties. One of those students and intern, Vanessa Taylor, is now the program’s full-time PWP landscape designer and, four years later, has worked with 26 landowners to transform their properties with beautiful native plantings. In Blue River alone, she has created planting plans and full-scale landscape designs for six properties, helping residents build landscapes that are both visually striking and ecologically resilient.
“I am a passionate advocate for native plants — not only for their beauty, but for the life they invite into a landscape,” says Taylor. “There is something magical about watching pollinators gather in a garden and seeing the McKenzie River community embrace native plants with such enthusiasm. I love walking onto a site, listening to a landowner’s dreams for the land, and helping shape those visions into living, thriving spaces.”
The naturescaping program is also connected to the Upper Willamette Stewardship Network’s Urban Waters Partnership (UWP), which promotes and installs green stormwater infrastructure. While UWP primarily works on projects in the Eugene/Springfield Metropolitan area, they recently completed their first pilot project in a rural area. That rural area was Blue River‘s very own Rose St Neighborhood project. Already responsible for numerous economic and housing benefits to the community, Rose St also paved the way for a new era of storm water management through the reduction of impervious surfaces by using permeable pavement and other materials. Led by the McKenzie Community Land Trust (MCLT), multiple partners convened to bring the project to fruition — including Walker Macy (Portland-based landscape architecture firm), the Urban Waters Partnership, the Long Tom Watershed Council, and PWP, with funding leveraged from an Environmental Protection Agency grant, Cow Creek Umpqua Indian Foundation and Oregon Housing and Community Services.
“The Rose Street Neighborhood was an excellent opportunity to showcase how green stormwater management can be applied in smaller communities to protect water quality and habitat and we appreciate the chance to partner on this work,” said Miranda Hawkes, Landscape Designer & Stormwater Specialist for the Long Tom Watershed Council and Urban Waters & Wildlife Program.
It takes so much to build back well. And everyone knows that time and resources are often exhausted rebuilding necessary infrastructure. Landscaping can seem like a “nice-to-have.” But as these trailblazers are demonstrating, it doesn’t have to be one or the other.
“We are grateful for our watershed partners, whose expertise allows us to intentionally invest in the long-term wellness of our land while rebuilding the housing and economic engines we need to thrive. The Rose Street Neighborhood was designed for connection, featuring shared green infrastructure and native plants that create a beautiful, functional sense of place for our families,” said Tabitha Eck, Executive Director of MCLT.
We can care for human and natural communities, all while stewarding our river and building resilience to fire. And there are organizations in the watershed who want to help you do it.
If you’re interested in naturescaping or riparian restoration on your property, reach out to sign up for a free property assessment at www.purewaterpartners.org.