Every time I drive by this log-filled hellstrip I think "I really need to stop and take photos" but I'm usually headed home and don't have the time.
However, one cloudy afternoon last week I made the time. Unfortunately the view from my car is my favorite, and since capturing that view would mean standing in the middle of a street with a blind curve, well, you're not going to get to see it.
Instead you'll see it from the sidewalk.
I can't tell if these trees were felled on site, or if they came in from elsewhere.
They're used in many interesting ways though, and there are rocks adding to the upscale look of things. I hadn't seen the rocks from my car.
Briefly stepping out into the street so you can see the border of rounds and upright sections.
I love the woven sidewalk border and wonder if there are more plants on the way, or if this is the finished look.
Mud and a rock base make the end piece solid.
The stacked rock wall on the other side of the sidewall is pretty sweet too.
Another quick street-side view...
And just a couple more from the sidewalk...
I'm curious what this purpose-built niche is for. I'll have to keep an eye on it.
From the street I hadn't noticed the property's twig fence.
They're obviously reusing/repurposing every part of a few trees here...
It's a corner property and the other hellstrip is filled with a mounding conifer, edged with rocks.
Looking up at the home, which based on the two address plaques I saw must be a duplex.
Oh ya... now THAT is a wreath. Damn. I hadn't noticed that before.
A fitting adornment for over the large wooden door at the top of those grand stairs.
Last photo at this location...
And now were at another spot I drive by fairly regularly, a much smaller lot/home that is also repurposing cut sections of trees in their urban garden and hellstrip.
This one is perfect for planting up...
Hellstrip pathways...
It's a bit austere, hopefully more plants are on the way.
I wonder if this (and the others) is a result of trees that came down during the January storm we had? So many trees fell with the wind and the ice.
Plant that stump!
This log-scape is on a super-wide median in NE Portland. It's also home to a
linear arboretum.
Each block of the median is very different, depending on the style and desires of the homes that border it and the people who tend to it.
My very small and very unscientific study tells me people are doing more to let trees naturally decompose on site and maybe provide habitat in the process. These examples are of people really making it happen in a big way, but I'm seeing it in smaller ways too. Heck even when
I built my table planting on the stock tank I used branches and stumps that I'd cut here in my own garden.
