Montavilla Neighborhood Association

A Secret Garden in Montavilla

Aug 18, 2000

If someone asked you for directions to Montavilla?’s only certified Backyard Wildlife Habitat Community Garden, would you know where to send them? Here?’s a clue-it?’s tucked away at the Berrydale Community Gardens at SE 90th and Taylor, and it?’s brimming with Northwest native plants and fruit trees just waiting to be enjoyed by neighbors. But it wasn?’t always that way.

Ten years ago an empty house occupied this site. Since then it has been transformed into a flourishing community garden. The habitat site was added in 1997, thanks to the National Wildlife Federation and Pacificorp, as a way to make the shaded area of the garden into a pleasant and productive spot for neighbors, gardeners, and wildlife alike. Landscape architect Gretchen Vadnais developed a design that focused on native plants, one that would create a natural environment friendly to wildlife living in an urban setting surrounded by lawns and groomed areas. With the addition of Nootka roses, Oregon grape, wild ginger, fringecup, elderberry, and sword fern, and birdbaths, brush piles and bird houses, habitat for wildlife was restored to a small corner of Montavilla by the project?’s many volunteers! Because the landscape provides food, water, cover, and places for birds and animals to raise young, it received official certification from the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as part of their Backyard Wildlife Habitat program which began in 1973.
Youth groups regularly visit the habitat site for educational activities, and several garden tours visit each season, as well. Currently, the BWH
garden is maintained in part by Parks & Recreation, Habitat Stewards volunteers, and the Berrydale Garden managers. Since its start in 1997, many additional plants have been added to the garden to enhance the natural setting and to replace those plants lost to the elements. Thank you Portland Nursery, NWF, and Portland Parks & Recreation, for your continuing support of this unique garden in Montavilla!

So now that you know a little bit about the Backyard Wildlife Habitat Community Garden, why don?’t you plan a visit? Better yet, why not plan to
spend a little extra time in this special place, volunteering to fill the birdbaths, to water during dry spells, or to help with weeding. Church and
school groups, local gardening clubs, and individuals are needed to support this neighborhood treasure.

To volunteer at the garden, call Leslie Pohl-Kosbau at Portland Parks & Recreation/Community Gardens at 823-1612. If you would like more information about gardening for wildlife or about NWF?’s Habitat Stewards volunteer program, contact National Wildlife Federation?’s Beth Stout at 693-8596 or by e-mail at stout@nwf.org. Habitat Stewards is a partnership between the National Wildlife Federation and the Community Gardens program and is supported by a Metro Environmental Education grant. One of the goals of Habitat Stewards is to involve
children in wildlife gardening activities at the Berrydale and Clinton Community Gardens.