Written by Newberg-Dundee Sustainable Solutions Group Member Jess Euler

If you’ve driven along College Street, you may have noticed stretches of sidewalk overgrown with weeds and littered with debris, making them unsightly and difficult to navigate. These spaces appear to be no-man’s-land—it isn’t clear who is responsible for their care, and their location makes maintenance difficult. Areas like this can be found in cities across the country.

Get These Stories First, Right in your Inbox

We send out a FREE weekly newsletter featuring the previous week’s biggest stories, upcoming events, and other local happenings. Our email newsletter is the first to know!

By clicking subscribe, you’re agreeing to receive email communications and weekly newsletters from Newsberg. This is a big part of what we do, and we’d never sell or abuse your email address. You can easily unsubscribe at any time.

Processing…
Success! You're on the list.

In December 2024, I unofficially adopted one of these sections at the corner of College and Mountainview. A brick wall runs the length of the block, making it difficult for property owners to access, with a slender planting strip at its base and cutouts lining the edge of the sidewalk. These spaces had been taken over by invasive species such as Himalayan blackberry, tree of heaven, and dandelions. Additionally, the accumulation of debris made this stretch of sidewalk difficult to navigate and unappealing.

After cleaning up one small bed last December, the effort has grown to include the area south of the intersection and north along the wall to Dartmouth. With the help of a friend, a supportive husband, and the City of Newberg, we have made great progress removing unwanted plants and litter. The next step is to start planting pollinator-friendly gardens in these areas, using mostly native plants.

As I have learned through study and experience, native plants support the insects and pollinators we need, which in turn support our food systems and ecosystems. As an added benefit, many native plants have adapted well to harsh conditions and require minimal support once established, making them an easy choice for these hot, dry, forgotten areas.

An organization that does great work in this area is Pollinator Pathway. Their goal is to support communities in creating corridors of native plants that provide nutrition and habitat for pollinating insects and birds. I hope to someday establish a Newberg chapter of this group because I think it would be great to transition more of these “in-between” spaces in our town into beautiful, pollinator-accessible habitats.

If you are interested in this kind of project or have ideas or suggestions, please feel free to reach out to me at jessica.a.euler@gmail.com, or follow along on my shared Instagram page, @mymostlynativegarden, and check out the “Adopt a Sidewalk” highlight.

There is also a volunteer opportunity coming up:

“Adopt a Sidewalk” Fall Planting Day – Oct. 19 at 10 a.m.

We will meet at the intersection of College and Mountainview. Bring your gloves and a hand trowel or shovel. Please join us! RSVP to Jess at jessica.a.euler@gmail.com.

Fall Planting Day has been made possible with support from YSWCD, SOLVE, Al’s Garden Center, Symbiop Nursery, and the Newberg Sustainable Solutions Group.

This story was written by a member of the Sustainable Solutions Group of Newberg-Dundee and submitted by the group with minimal editing by Newsberg. If your organization would like to submit a monthly column, please visit our contact page.