05/25/2026
Phase 1 of our Newberg project-
Our client lives on 2+ acres and requested our assistance with providing screening from a commercial property with bright night lights and a neighbor’s auto collection. Twice our client has tried planting screening trees on their property but because of heavy soil, species selection, planting locations and lack of consistent summer water these plantings have died.
We proposed bringing in a blended soil that would provide much needed organic matter for the soil and a raised substrate for our new plants to establish roots without drowning.
To prepare the planting areas we ran a single shank ripper to break up the hard pan layer under the topsoil and then rototilled. We then ran 800’ of 1” poly to these beds to help provide automated irrigation. Next, we brought in 200 yards of blended soil to shape the beds.
Typically, when driving through rural areas with newer homes in the Willamette Valley, you will see rows of Leyland Cypress planted at the property edge. Why did we choose not to do that? Well, that’s what had been tried previously and they died. Secondly, the client really enjoyed their views of the sky and only wanted screening to about 18’+/-. The Leyland Cypress can get to 40’ pretty quickly. Third, having a single texture wall of plants takes away from the beauty of having a rural property - open space. Placing a uniform wall of plants around one’s property can feel like self imposed confinement.
For planting, we will be using a mix of native plants that can tolerate heavy wet soils in the winter and dry summer conditions such as Coastal Pine, California Wax Myrtle and Red Twig Dogwood. We will be placing these plants in a staggered pattern in amorphous beds to add depth and interest.
Much thanks to Eric@ Continuum Landscape and Design for his help this last week.
