Salmon Friendly Gardens Are Beautiful, Healthy and Easy To Maintain.  Salmon Friendly Gardens work with natural processes to grow healthy plants with minimal irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides. In addition to keeping the water clean and protecting habitat, Salmon Friendly Gardens can save you time and money. Take a look at your garden and see what you can do to welcome salmon home.

Welcome Back A Good Neighbor
Salmon are the ultimate in loyal neighbors. They swim thousands of miles through the ocean, past predators and fishing nets, around locks and other barriers, to return where they hatched and spawn a new generation…right in our backyards! Unfortunately, when salmon arrive they may find their spawning areas washed away, filled with silt from erosion, replaced by lawns or contaminated with pesticides.

Our landscaping practices are an important part of the changes around Lake Oswego that threaten salmon with extinction. The ways we garden can make a real difference in whether our salmon neighbors have a healthy place to come home to.

Every Gardener Can Make A Difference
Whether your garden is 2 feet or 2 miles from the nearest stream, river or lake, it affects salmon. Everything that runs off your property into storm drains eventually washes through their habitat.

Excess storm water running off pavement or compacted soil harms salmon habitat. Residues of fertilizers, pesticides and other chemicals may harm young salmon. And inefficient irrigation wastes water, leaving less in rivers for salmon to swim and spawn in.

Better garden design and care can reduce runoff, conserve water, preserve habitat and keep harmful chemicals out of the water. Every time we plant, mow, fertilize, water or control pests in our gardens we can choose methods that aid salmon recovery.