Wenatchee River Institute - Leavenworth, WA

The goal with our work at the Wenatchee River Institute was to demonstrate for the organization’s visitors and students how to implement regenerative land stewardship practices that would enhance biodiversity and connect people with the landscape. Working along the existing pathways traversing a steep slope, we transformed a weedy and eroding slope into a passive water catchment swale and berm earthworks design that would slow, spread, and sink the water into the soil rather than it sheeting off into the river. We sowed various native and adapted seeds into the downhill soil and planted native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants. The sunflowers acted as a pioneer shade-providing species for the younger plants, and within two years since installing this design we’ve seen abundant growth. We also planted a natural privacy screen along the parking lot to create a visual and noise buffer from the lawn, which includes a multilayered tree, shrub, and herbaceous layer assortment.