Planting and garden beds in Portland, Maine.
Garden beds carry a lot of the look of a Portland street. On a block of 19th-century brick or a row of Deering bungalows, the front bed is often the only planting between the facade and the sidewalk, and it is usually small: RN-4 lots can be as little as 2,000 square feet.
Two city rules shape how those beds are planted and kept. The first is the pesticide ordinance, which since 2019 has prohibited synthetic pesticides on private property. The second is the historic preservation code, which explicitly exempts changes in plantings outside designated historic landscape districts, so a new foundation bed on a historic street does not need review even when a new wall beside it would.
Choosing plants that will not need spraying
Under Chapter 34, pest problems in a bed are handled with organic methods or a short list of allowed materials, and within 75 feet of a water body or wetland no pesticide may be used at all. That makes plant selection the main tool. Shrubs and perennials matched to their light and soil, spaced to fill in, and set in clean-edged mulch hold up better than a mix that depends on treatment. The ordinance's health exemptions cover things like poison ivy, ticks and mosquitoes, not ordinary weeds in a perennial border.
Winter moth is a reason to be careful with woody plants. The Maine Forest Service reports it established along the coast from Kittery to Bar Harbor, feeding on oak, maple, apple, crabapple, cherry and blueberry among other hosts, and notes that some of it likely arrived as cocoons in the soil of landscape plants shipped from infested areas in southern New England.
Beds on tight and old lots
The Land Use Code allows raised garden beds inside required setbacks, alongside fences and retaining walls. On a narrow lot, a raised bed along the property line is often the only way to gain planting depth where old fill, brick rubble or a buried walk sits a few inches under the surface.
Our crews build foundation plantings and perennial beds from the soil up: digging out debris, bringing in planting soil where the native ground will not support roots, setting plants at the right depth, and finishing with a mulch layer and a cut edge. Fresh mulch each spring keeps weeds down in beds that cannot be sprayed.
Plantings · Mulch · Garden Design
How we handle planting & garden beds
We build planting beds that look better every year — hardy perennials and shrubs matched to your site, finished with clean-edged mulch and stone accents. From single foundation beds to full hillside plantings.
See the full planting & garden beds service page or everything we do in Portland, Maine.
Planting & Garden Beds in nearby towns
- Planting & Garden Beds in South Portland
- Planting & Garden Beds in Falmouth
- Planting & Garden Beds in Westbrook
- Planting & Garden Beds in Scarborough
- Planting & Garden Beds in Cape Elizabeth
More services in Portland
- Hardscaping in Portland
- Retaining Walls in Portland
- Landscaping in Portland
- Landscape Design in Portland
- Hydroseeding, Sod & Turf in Portland
- Lawn Aeration & Overseeding in Portland
- Fall Cleanup & Leaf Removal in Portland
- Commercial Mowing & Cleanups in Portland
- Excavation & Land Clearing in Portland
- Septic Systems in Portland
- Tree & Shrub Services in Portland
- Tree Removal in Portland
Sources for the local facts on this page
Free Estimates
Planting & Garden Beds in Portland? Let's talk.
Tell us about your property and we will walk it with you — free estimates, straight answers, stonework guaranteed to hold its lines.
Mon–Sat 7:00am – 5:00pm · Based in Cumberland, Maine