Conscious Land Stewardship

Earth Care: Our work in landscaping primarily stems from the need to heal the earth and develop lifestyles that are in harmony with the planet’s diverse and interconnecting systems. On top of on-going education to improve our knowledge of best practices, our company has committed to the following:

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No pesticides, herbicides or fungicides, as well as no-till methods (when applicable). We strive to use practices that encourage the natural development of healthy, diverse soil. In considering the long-term impacts of our actions we refrain from using plastic liners or weed fabric in our projects.

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Reduce, reuse and recycle. All of our mulch, soil and compost comes from local sources, which allows us to buy in bulk and skip plastic bags almost entirely. Much of our mulch and logs even come from free sources like local arborists! We repurpose what is found on site, whether in the client’s design or on another property if something needs a new home. All of our pots are returned to our suppliers to be reused for future plantings. Debris waste is placed into the client’s debris bin and heavier loads are returned to local processing facilities, while when possible we leave leaf debris in beds to benefit healthy soil development.

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Natives, medicinals and edibles over ornamentals. While we’re not wholly against ornamentals, we value plants that serve as many purposes as possible. Natives are especially apt at providing abundant habitat and food sources for local native wildlife, and are often quite hardy, versatile and drought resistant. Medicinal and edible plant varieties support a landscape that can be used to support the humans that live near these spaces, especially in times of great need. This type of landscaping considers the well-being of future generations of humans and more-than-human beings.

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People Care: In valuing holistic ways of being, we are committed to caring for the whole person, whether that be our clients, staff or contractors. As we prioritize personal and community well-being, we follow the below guidelines to provide deep care to all involved.

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We are a Community of Learners: We recognize the pursuit of knowledge is an on-going, lifelong process. The field of regenerative landscaping is an expansive and exciting field! While we are competent in many areas, our understanding is always improving with each of us holding different and unique strengths. With this, we see each person we work with, including our clients, as valuable members of the learning community. Not one person is able to know all things, and we offer grace and support to one another through the learning process. We expect clients to offer this same level of understanding and curiosity. 

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Community Care: We believe in people over profit. This is why we are a for-benefit company certified with Benefit Corporation for Good, as it is important to us to return a portion of our income back to the community through active labor and resource support. All of our contractors and suppliers are small businesses owned and run by people in our community, and when applicable we support organizations led by underrepresented community members. 

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EQUALITY, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

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We work with clients and community partners who share similar values and visions for a healthier world. With this, we also strive to acknowledge and incorporate a wide range of diverse perspectives, interests, ideas and passions into our offerings. As change-makers, we are active participants in social and environmental justice and are inclusive of all races, religions, genders and disabilities.

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If you have any unique needs that we can support you with, please let us know. We will do our best to accommodate client, staff and contractor needs to keep everyone safe and comfortable around the work site. 

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LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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UVD brings an ethic of deep care to the land in response to both the environmental and social damage that has occurred here due to unregulated colonial and capitalistic pursuits. We honor

the Tumwater, Kalapuya, Wasco, Molalla, Chinook, and many other nations who have for time immemorial called these places home. Through on-going education we are here to listen to and support the work of Indigenous peoples, organizations and businesses, and as applicable further healing initiatives on the earth by implementing Traditional Ecological Knowledge into our practices. 

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