See above

Reporter
June 10, 2013, 8:33 a.m.

Hey, Julie. The best approach is going to be a range of different plants that will fill in different niches. The folks at both East and West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation Districts (emswcd.org and wmswcd.org) have websites dedicated to coaching folks through naturescaping, and offer classes, too. They also (often) have plant sales of bare-root plants in January: a good way to add plants on a budget. June isn't an ideal time to put in new plants, but a layer of bark mulch would be a way to a) keep the weeds down, b) keep water in place for new plants and c) add some organic material to the soil. As far as financial help, I can't speak for SOLVE (now with an 'e'), but haven't really heard about projects involving individual homeowners. Most grant programs are looking for projects on the neighborhood scale, though it can't hurt to ask....

-Mitch

Mitch Bixby
June 13, 2013, 2:43 a.m.