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Landscaping in Portland, Maine.

Portland is the oldest housing market we work in by a wide margin. The median home in the city was built in 1946, and almost 46% of homes predate 1940 — Munjoy Hill triple-deckers, West End brick, Deering capes and bungalows. The lots are small, the grades are old, and access for equipment is often a single driveway or a side yard.

About 68,000 people live in the city, and fewer than half of homes are owner-occupied. The work here is compact and detailed: a courtyard patio behind a townhouse, new granite entry steps, a front bed that suits a historic street, or a lawn brought back on a tight lot.

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Portland at a glance

Neighborhoods: Munjoy Hill, West End, Deering, East Deering, Woodfords Corner, Bayside, and the islands
Housing: Median home built 1946; ~46% built before 1940; ~36% single-family detached
Pesticides: Synthetic pesticides banned on private property since 2019; no application within 75 ft of water or wetlands
Water: Portland Water District, drawing from Sebago Lake since 1869
Historic districts: National Register districts include Deering Street, Spring Street, Stroudwater and the waterfront
Hardiness zone: 6a (2023 USDA map)

Lawn care under Portland's pesticide ordinance

The City Council passed Portland's pesticide ordinance 9–0 in January 2018. It covered city property from July 2018 and private property no later than January 1, 2019: synthetic pesticides are prohibited, and so is applying pesticides within 75 feet of a water body or wetland. Waivers exist, but for a normal yard the rule is simple — weeds and thin turf are handled by growing better grass, not spraying.

That puts the weight on UMaine Extension's basics: a soil test, lime to bring acidic soil toward pH 6.0–6.5, mowing at about three inches with clippings left down, phosphorus-free fertilizer unless a test shows a need, and core aeration and overseeding where city lawns get packed down by foot traffic.

Building on old, tight lots

On a lot that has been dug, filled and regraded for a century, the ground under a patio is rarely what it looks like. Old foundations, cinders, buried walks and tree roots turn up, and there is nowhere to stockpile. Small-footprint hardscape — a paver courtyard, a bluestone landing, granite steps set on a proper base — is where the craft matters most, because every inch is visible from the sidewalk.

In the city's historic districts, the look of steps, walls and fences carries more weight than it does in a subdivision. Granite, brick and natural stone tend to suit the street; if a property sits in a local historic district, the city's review process is worth checking before a front-yard change.

City trees

Portland is inside the Maine Forest Service's emerald ash borer quarantine, which covers all of Cumberland County, and winter moth is established along coastal Maine from Kittery to Bar Harbor. Street and yard trees in the older neighborhoods are often large and close to houses and wires, so pruning for clearance and structure is a job for a licensed arborist.

What we do in Portland