Hannah Nickerson has been gardening professionally for over eight years. She entered the field of landscaping through her original interest in agriculture. Her farming experience includes working on farms in New Zealand, Costa Rica and Hawaii. She has also farmed in Willits, California and Williams, Oregon. These experiences have taught her about soil management, vegetable and herb growing and hard work. Eventually her travels led her to Maine, where she worked at the head gardener for a coastal resort. This is where she first began designing planting beds and fell in love with the art of landscape design.
She moved to Portland to learn more about designing gardens, and earned a Certificate of Landscape Design from Portland Community College, where she studied the ins and outs of working in the landscaping industry and the concepts of landscape design. She is a member of a local trade group, Associate of Northwest Landscape Designers (ANLD) which keeps her learning from other landscape designers and staying informed of current trends and industry changes. In addition, she’s an experienced home gardener who has been designing and re-designing her own yard and learning what works in the specific climate of Portland. She recently became a Master Gardener Volunteer to keep learning about gardening and making local connections in the horticultural circles of Portland.
Hannah Nickerson loves gardening and working with people. She is passionate about improving the environment and her community by designing sustainable, rain friendly gardens. She started Rain City Gardens in 2011.
Rain City Gardens . 971-270-6810 . raincitygardens@gmail.com
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A rain garden is a planting bed within a shallow depression where water is diverted from your impremeable surfaces (typically your roof or driveway). They are built to capture rain water and filter it before it can reach the storm water / sewage system. Rain Gardens mimic the natural system of rain water slowly seeping through the soil and recharging the ground water before making its way back to streams and rivers.
Rain Gardens can help prevent urban flooding and reduce overflow of untreated water from going into our rivers. Although the recent Big Pipe project in Portland has reduced much of our storm water and untreated sewage waste from overflowing into the Willamette River, this still happens about four times a year. The more rain we can keep out of the system, the less overflow we will have and the better for our environment and our rivers.
SW Portland
Portland Rain Garden
Hillside Front Yard