October 2023

5th Annual Lake Oswego Tree Summit
Our Urban Forest: Rooted in Care and Commitment

As residents of our urban forest, you are invited to attend and participate in the fifth annual community Tree Summit. This year’s Summit will be held in person.

Saturday, November 4th from 9 am to Noon
Mountain Park Clubhouse – Hawthorn Room
2 Mt. Jefferson Terrace, Lake Oswego

The LO Tree Summit is held annually as a forum for people to gather together to increase their arboreal knowledge, discuss the importance of a healthy, interconnected urban ecological system, and share opportunities to maintain the health of the urban forest.

Keynote Speaker: Scott Altenhoff, Urban and Community Forester, Oregon Department of Forestry. Scott will speak on the unique character of the Lake Oswego urban forest and its complex habitats, as well as the intrinsic relationship people have with the health of an urban ecosystem. Scott’s presentation will be followed by a panel of residents who will share their experiences cultivating and participating in the Lake Oswego urban forest. The City of Lake Oswego will also provide an update on the Urban and Community Forestry Plan.

Join us to deepen your understanding of your natural surroundings and how you can help reduce human impacts.

LO Tree Summit is presented by the Oswego Lake Watershed Council
in partnership with the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network.

Mary’s Garden

We recently lost Mary Ratcliff, one of the founding LOSN board members. Upon hearing of her death, John Movius with Terraccord Landscapes shared with us:

“Mary was a longtime landscaping client who became a friend. She realized her vision of transforming her yard into a sanctuary for native plants and wildlife. She was a steward of the 150 year old Heritage Elm tree on her land, and the miner bee colony living deep beneath the soil outside her house. Her enthusiasm and curious spirit made working with her a joy. Mary was generous with her knowledge of bird life around her and would often pause while talking because she heard a call from near or far, which would allow us both to listen more closely in the moment. I had the opportunity to see over the years of working on her garden, how much joy she found in the natural world, and how much she liked to share laughter and wonder. I will always appreciate the trust she put in me to help her restore her landscape, which was part of a property that had a long history for herself and her family. We will deeply miss you, Mary.”

Mary’s garden is the epitome of what it means to Leave the Leaves. She had a deep appreciation of our interconnectedness within a natural environment. When the leaves fell in the fall, they remained in her garden and were allowed to compost in place. She knew those leaves provide habitat for frogs, salamanders, worms, a wide variety of insects and other invertebrates. That they provide nourishment for fungi and microorganisms that live in the soil. Mary trusted nature! She understood the importance of allowing natural systems to work together. Her greatest joy was the birds that flocked to her garden to feed on insects, berries and seeds, build nests under bushes and in the trees, and drink a bath in clean water provided by her fountain. Her garden was free of insecticides and herbicides and she never used artificial fertilizers that would interfere with the way nature was thriving under her protection.

Please join us in honoring Mary: trust nature, leave the leaves and avoid using artificial fertilizers or pesticides.

Leave the Leaves…
and other sustainable gardening ideas for fall

Leave the Leaves:

If they fall in garden beds let them stay in place
If they fall on your lawn use an electric lawn mower to chop them up and let them stay in place
If they land on your driveway, patio or walks leave them for a while and let the wind blow them off. Leaves that are not removed by the wind can be raked, swept or blown with an electric blower into your flower beds or onto your lawn before you chop them up with the mower.

By spring, all of the leaves will disintegrate into a leaf duff, which is just another name for natural compost. Some will even be pulled underground by earthworms.

Leave the flowers:

Birds will come to eat the seeds.
Wait until early spring to cut back your perennials to maximize winter food for birds and small mammals.

Leave the berries and other fruit on shrubs and trees.

Leave small branches and twigs – they provide good food for fungi. They will also disintegrate into the leaf duff.

Save yourself a lot of work and Leave the Leaves!

Get more ideas from the Oswego Lake Watershed Council and Electrify Now on Healthy Yard Care.

Electrify Your Landscaping

One of LOSN’s projects is working with others in our community and region to switch from gas powered landscaping equipment to electric landscaping equipment. Gas powered landscaping equipment causes significant air and noise pollution that negatively affects the workers, neighborhoods, habitat and health of the soil. Electric landscaping equipment is readily available and works great!

Communities all over the United States are targeting gas powered landscaping equipment in response to the significant noise and air pollution they produce.

The benefits of switching to electric landscaping equipment helps to significantly reduce carbon emissions and has major benefits for the well-being of our community.

Get more information from Electrify Now on the advantages of all electric landscaping equipment and healthy yard care.

For more information and resources check out the LOSN page on Electric Landscaping. American Green Zone Alliance is also a great resource. They are a leader in low-impact low-noise landscape solutions and does excellent work helping landscapers and communities transition to electric landscaping equipment.

A local volunteer organization, Quiet Clean PDX, is working to educate and offer solutions to eliminate gas powered leaf blowers.

Lake Oswego Home & Vehicle Electrification Fair

Thank you to everyone who attended the Lake Oswego Home & Vehicle Electrification Fair on September 23. For the first time, we were fortunate to record our speaker presentations and post to LOSN’s YouTube channel so you can watch anytime:

You Can Do It: How Electric Vehicles Work for All of Us

Financial Incentives for Home Electrification

Holistic Home Electrification

Selecting the Right Heat Pump for Your Home

How to Go Solar + Storage

Putting the Community in Community Solar