Bare builder sod, a side yard that turns into a bog every November, or a beds-and-bark plan that needs someone who knows what actually survives here. Describe the yard and what bothers you about it, and licensed Hillsboro landscape crews will come back with bids and a realistic start date.
Tualatin Valley clay does not drain, and a large share of local landscape problems are really water problems: standing puddles that persist for days, moss taking over the lawn, plants drowning in beds that never dry. Fixing grade, adding a French drain, or routing downspouts away from the foundation is unglamorous and should happen first. Planting into a wet spot just buys you a more expensive version of the same complaint.
Homes in the newer developments typically arrive with a thin layer of sod over compacted construction fill and little else. The soil needs amending before it will grow much, and the tight lot spacing means small trees and layered shrubs work far better than anything that wants twenty feet. Planning the whole yard on paper and installing it in phases is how most people here get a coherent result on a normal budget.
The fall leaf drop from the big maples and the spring flush after months of rain are the two moments most people call for help. A proper cleanup means cutting back perennials, clearing beds and gutters, dethatching or aerating a compacted lawn, refreshing bark, and pruning what should be pruned in that season. Crews book solid in both windows, so calling a few weeks ahead matters.
Summers here are genuinely dry from July into September, and lawns that looked perfect in May go brown fast without water. A basic zoned sprinkler system with drip in the beds and a smart controller uses far less water than hand-watering while producing a better result. Backflow prevention is required, and the system needs blowing out each fall before the first hard freeze.
Describe the project once and we match it with vetted local pros who actually do this work — you choose who to hire, or nobody at all.
Heavy clay with an acidic lean is the norm across most of Hillsboro. That is excellent news for rhododendrons, hydrangeas, ferns, Japanese maples, and native serviceberry and vine maple. It is poor news for lavender, rosemary, and most Mediterranean plants unless you build up raised or heavily amended beds. Local crews plant accordingly, and it is a fair way to test whether a bidder knows the area.
Landscape contractors in Oregon are licensed through the State Landscape Contractors Board, which is separate from the CCB — verify the right one. Retaining walls above a certain height need a City of Hillsboro permit, and Washington County covers addresses outside the line. Many local HOAs also have front-yard standards, and street trees may be regulated, so check before removing one.
Counter to instinct, October and November are the ideal months to put trees and shrubs in the ground around Hillsboro. Roots establish through the mild, wet winter and the plant faces its first dry summer already anchored. Spring planting works but demands far more watering. Lawn seeding follows the same logic, with early fall outperforming spring reliably.
A one-time seasonal cleanup on a standard subdivision lot commonly runs $400 to $1,200 depending on how long it has been. Ongoing maintenance visits typically fall between $50 and $120 each. A designed front-yard renovation with beds, plants, and bark generally lands between $6,000 and $18,000. Paver patios usually run $20 to $40 per square foot installed, and a full irrigation system for a typical lot commonly falls between $4,000 and $8,000. Drainage corrections vary widely, from $1,500 for a simple downspout re-route to well over $8,000 for a full French drain system. Bids far below these usually skip soil preparation, which is where the result actually comes from.
The side yard was a swamp every winter. They regraded it, put in a drain line, and it has stayed walkable through two rainy seasons.
Our new-build yard was just sod and mud. They amended the soil, laid out beds, and picked plants that have all made it through their first summer.
They put the beds in during October so everything rooted through the wet months, and ran drip on a timer for the dry stretch. Nothing needed hand watering this August, which is a first for us.
Moss wins where grass is weak — shade, compacted clay, poor drainage, and acidic soil, which describes most Hillsboro yards. Killing the moss without fixing those conditions just resets the clock. Aeration, lime, better drainage, and thinning overhead branches are the durable fix.
Late October through November, once most of the leaves are actually down. Doing it too early means paying for a second pass. Crews fill their calendars during that stretch, so booking a few weeks ahead is wise.
Above a modest height, yes, and taller walls need engineering. It depends on the wall's height and whether it is holding a slope or a driveway. Your contractor should confirm with Hillsboro or Washington County before pricing the job.
Crisp bed edges, fresh bark, pruning what has outgrown its spot, and cleaning moss off the walkway and driveway. That combination usually costs under a thousand dollars and changes how the house reads from the street more than new plants would.
Often yes. Re-grading so soil slopes away from the house and extending downspouts well past the foundation solves a surprising share of damp crawlspace complaints. If water is coming from higher ground or the neighbor's lot, a drain system is the answer instead.
Send photos and describe the problem — drainage, overgrowth, a blank slate. Licensed local landscape crews will respond with scope, pricing, and timing.
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