4 • The Southwest Portland Post
FEATURES
August 2016
Pendergrass is ‘meadowscaping’ with natural grasses and prairie plants
By KC Cowan
The Southwest Portland Post
At first glance, it’s easy to understand
why people who walk past Kathy
Pendergrass’ home on Southwest Evans
Street might not appreciate her garden.
But if you look closer, you’ll notice
a sign that reads: Backyard Habitat
Certification Program. Certification in
Progress.
Pendergrass is “naturescaping”—a
growing trend where people replace
water and fertilizer-dependent lawns
with native plants and shrubs.
M o r e s p e c i f i c a l l y, s h e i s
“meadowscaping,” which focuses on
planting an urban meadow of native,
drought resistant plants to improve
pollination and stormwater runoff.
It also creates a habitat of beneficial
insects to feed birds.
Pendergrass is recreating something
that, hundreds of years ago, was seen
in abundance in Oregon. A botanist, she
researched native Willamette prairie for
a masters’ thesis several years ago.
According to Pendergrass, vast
prairies once were common in the
Willamette Valley. Hundreds of native
species could be seen on a five-acre site.
“Those native prairies are all but gone
from the valley,” she explained. “It used
to be extensive prairie and oaklands,
but we have less than one percent of
that prairie left.”
Instead of a valley ecosystem full
of wildflowers that supported birds
and wildlife, modern agriculture and
development has created a mono-
culture.
There are still a few natural meadows
in the Willamette Valley, and some in
the Puget Trough in Washington.
But Pendergrass said Portland is a
large “dead space” between those wild
meadows. By building a small urban
meadow in your own yard, she said you
can help create “gene flow” to preserve
the species.
“Any opportunity I get I’m telling
people there’s less than one percent of
this left. So if we had our ideal scenario,
we’d have stepping stones or corridors
(of urban meadows) to connect these
pieces of what’s left of those native
habitats,” Pendergrass said.
She has grown many native plants in
her yard—Showy Tarweed and Clarkia
just to name two. They’re not easy to
come by, but are still available through
special native plant sales.
Pendergrass consulted on the
Meadowscaping Handbook just
released by the West Multnomah Soil
and Water Conservation District.
Mary Logalbo, with the district,
said they already had a naturescaping
book about shrubs and trees. The
meadowscaping book came about after
many requests for a way to landscape
with natural grasses and prairie plants.
“A lot of people want something
different in their landscape,” Logalbo
says. “Some people want to provide
more wildlife habitat and others just
don’t want to have to water anymore.
Some might want lower maintenance.”
The book defines the different kinds
of urban meadows you can build—from
a wet meadow to an upland meadow.
It provides step-by-step instructions for
soil testing and site preparation, and
Kathy Pendergrass in her meadowscaped garden. (Post photo by KC Cowan)
provides a comprehensive plant guide.
“It’s a little tricky,” Logalbo says,
“which is why our ‘short handbook’
ended up being almost 100 pages. You
do need some guidance.”
And if you don’t like the rough and
wild look of some meadows, the book
even shows you how to design it so it
looks more “intentional.”
The book can be downloaded off
the District’s website, or you can pick
one up at their office at 2701 NW
Vaugh Street. It’s free of charge, adding
more incentive for urban dwellers to
meadowscape.
Pendergrass is glad she tried it. It
took her just two years to change her
yard from one that was dominated by
big Doug Fir trees, lawn, and ivy, to
one that is light and airy and filled with
color and honeybees.
Her advice is to start with a small
portion of your yard, or a strip in the
front. In doing so, you are retrieving a
tiny bit of the land’s history.
“We had this historic landscape that
must have been incredible,” she said. “I
wish I could go back in a time machine
and see what it must have been like.”
F o r m o re i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t
m e a d o w s c a p i n g v i s i t t h e We s t
Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation
District website: www.wmswcd.org.
Editor’s Note: Zumwalt Prairie, a
33,000-acre nature and wildlife preserve
in eastern Oregon’s Wallowa County near
Joseph is a must-see for those interested in
historic prairies. It’s owned by the Nature
Conservancy of Oregon. Search online for
more information.
Thank You Multnomah Village!
FAMILY-CENTERED MATERNITY CARE
From all of us at Transition Projects, thank you for your generosity
volunteering and providing meals and resources. Hundreds of women
and couples, with nowhere else to turn, were supported through
your deep community spirit from November 2015–May 2016.
To all the volunteers in Multnomah Village, I
want to thank you for all your dedication and
hard work. Because of you my fiancé and I were
fed, bed and taken care of. Thank you so much
for giving us hope and giving us a place to live.
James B., Sears Shelter Participant
Happy, healthy babies start with happy, healthy families.
At OHSU Family Medicine, our team supports all your
family’s health needs during this exciting time. From
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To learn more,
visit www.ohsu.edu/fmmaternity
It has been such a blessing to have people like you
give so much to someone like me, and the other
people in need at the Sears Shelter. You come and
give so much and ask nothing in return. I have
enjoyed your warm attention you have given to
us. The food was wonderful—taking the time out
of your lives to make sure the ones in need were
fed. Also, you gave us a warm, dry and safe place
to lay our needed bodies. I don’t know how to
repay you but with a big THANK YOU!
Terry R., Sears Shelter Participant
To all the volunteers that have provided us
with food, goodies and bright smiles. You
have all been a blessing and a joy for us. Also,
I would like to send out a big “Thank You” to
the neighbors around the Sears Shelter. I could
see and understand at times how very stressful
it might be.
Sears Shelter Participant