Making the Most of the Rain: Our Journey to a Thriving Urban Habitat

Making the Most of the Rain: Our Journey to a Thriving Urban Habitat

Jul 23, 2025 | Featured, Flora/Fauna, In the News

Green leaf in a puddle

Article submitted by Sharon Goss

Rain, rain, go away… is that how you feel during the long Pacific Northwest rainy season? If so, I encourage you to see that rain not as an inconvenience but as an opportunity. With the right approach, you can harness rainfall to support your landscape through water features, rain barrels, and rain gardens. By incorporating native and drought-tolerant plants, you’ll reduce your summer watering needs, improve soil health, and create a low-maintenance, ecologically beneficial space.

My sense of wellbeing is strongest when I’m outside. I’ve often dreamed of living deep in the woods, and that dream shaped the vision for our own backyard in Lake Oswego. When we moved from the Midwest, we inherited a yard thick with invasive species, some weeds towering over six feet tall. Over two years, we removed massive amounts of invasive plants including English ivy, shiny geranium, Himalayan blackberry, and others. 

Before we began work

As the weeds disappeared, native plants began to return on their own.

We added walking paths edged with salvaged tree branches and created peaceful sitting areas. We applied for Backyard Habitat certification and were thrilled to achieve platinum level after initially being certified gold. Our yard was featured in the 2023 Backyard Habitat Open Gardens Project and will be included again in 2025.

By the third year, native plants flourished and birds began to appear in greater numbers. That was when I began to envision our property as a place that felt like a nature reserve, bird sanctuary, or a neighborhood park. Fortunately, the wooded land behind our home added to that illusion and helped extend our vision. Creating a habitat for wildlife using environmentally friendly methods and conservation was an important part of our process. We leaned into nature-based solutions and found that when we trust nature rather than fight it, the landscape becomes more beautiful, more resilient, and less expensive to maintain. Native plants self-seed and spread, require little watering, and demand far less care than ornamentals. We’ve even started cataloging them with permanent labels to track their growth and diversity.

Capturing Rainwater

Once the vegetation improved, I began to observe how rainfall behaved around our property. In the Willamette Valley, we experience an imbalance with wet winters and dry summers, yet we had no irrigation system. Manual watering was required during our first two summers, but I wanted to capture and redirect more rain to reduce that burden. We started with two rain barrels installed on downspouts. We also had a 48-foot manmade creek (a water feature), which previously required city water to keep running. The first winter after installing the rain barrels, we were able to run the creek every day using only captured rainwater. It provided water for birds and small animals all winter, and we got to enjoy the beauty of flowing water right from our windows.

Over time, we learned where the soil tended to dry out and began directing rainwater to those areas. A lightweight RV hose and portable pump made transporting the water easy. One key practice is to regularly check the barrels during the rainy season and drain them when full. Otherwise, they overflow and route water back to the downspout.

Replacing the Front Lawn with a Rain Garden

The front yard posed a new challenge. Rain barrels would have looked out of place, so we replaced the lawn with a rain garden fed by two disconnected downspouts. Rainfall in that area now soaks into the soil on our property. We planted only native and drought-resistant plants, and we haven’t needed to water that section at all during summer. Maintenance has become minimal, mostly just seasonal trimming.

Tip: If you’re removing sod, check to see if it has netting. Ours did, and while it prevented composting, we found that pulling up the rolls, which had very shallow roots, and sifting the soil allowed us to keep the top layer and eliminate the plastic. This method let the two of us complete the rain garden in just a few weeks.

Development has removed much of the natural water retention that historically occurred when beaver populations were active prior to colonization. In building rain gardens, we’re helping to restore a small piece of that lost hydrological function—mimicking, in part, the ecological role that beavers once played.

That rainspout now feeds the front yard rain garden
That rainspout now feeds the front yard rain garden

A Habitat in Full Bloom

The area nearest the creek became our bird sanctuary, perfectly visible from the kitchen and deck. We added fruit trees, pollinator gardens, vegetable beds, and year-round water sources of varying heights to attract diverse species. Paths were lined with downed tree limbs and a brush pile added to encourage shelter. Over time, we’ve documented over 65 different native plants and more than 35 bird species, some now nesting regularly in our yard. In summer, we eat most of our meals outside, surrounded by nature. It truly feels like dining in a park.

Seasonal changes bring joy too. In fall, the landscape glows with color before leaves drop, offering full visibility across the property. Winter reveals the beautiful forms of bare branches. Spring transforms the space again into a lush, secret garden.

Reflections and Encouragement

Even in the Willamette Valley, where summer rain isn’t plentiful enough to meet all dry-season needs, capturing winter rain has made a remarkable difference. While rain barrels and rain gardens require some investment and effort upfront, we’ve found the benefits, including reduced utility costs, improved soil, and lower maintenance, far outweigh the drawbacks.

We were lucky to have an existing water feature, but even a small one brings life. When the water moves, birds and pollinators appear. It’s worth noting we didn’t install a cistern or underground reservoir due to permit requirements. If you’re interested in more aggressive water capture, research state and local guidelines first.

Rick and I take pride in what we’ve accomplished together. He recently turned 76, and I’m not far behind, but we’ve done nearly all of the work ourselves, from grass removal to installing the rain garden. I feel that my dream of living in the woods has come true, right here in our urban forest.

I’m not a botanist, just a lifelong learner. The Backyard Habitat Program, along with their staff and recommended resources have been incredibly helpful. If you’re curious about starting your own native garden or conserving more rainwater, the resources below are a great place to begin.

Resources