Vancouver’s — in fact, much of America’s — suburban characteristics owe a lot to the Reconstruction Era predilections of a landscape architect who loathed England’s suburban walled gardens and didn’t much care for flowers, either.
When Fredrick Law Olmsted designed Riverside, Ill., one of America’s first subdivisions, he rejected right angles and front yard fences to define personal fiefdoms. Olmsted’s vision was to create the illusion that residents lived in one giant park, with houses, like islands along meandering sluiceways of lawn, set 30 feet back from the curb and personal properties accentuated by strategically placed shrubs and trees.
While many Southwest Washington residents find themselves living in neighborhoods modeled in Omsted’s Riverside vision, a growing number of them are dropping his city park sensibilities and replacing their lawns with landscapes more fitting to the wild character of the Pacific Northwest. At the same time, a cadre of environmentally focused organizations have begun championing the cause and are working to provide the resources and connections people need when they’re ready to make the switch.
“Probably two-thirds of my clients are interested in either no lawn or a lot less lawn,” said Vanessa Gardner Nagel, a landscape designer based in Clark County. “They’re getting educated, and they’re realizing having a lawn is not the best thing for the environment. I think they’re coming at it from that approach. The word is definitely getting out there.”